Anisul Islam Noor :
The government plans to open about $35 billion investment for private sector investors in the country’s power transmission after getting a steady success 55 percent in electricity generation from the private entrepreneurs.
Experts said, the private sector power generation witnessed a substantial growth due to a favorable investment policy offered by the government over the last one decade.
The private sector is contributing 55 percent electricity while 45 percent produced by state-owned power plants. Once only state-owned power plants provided electricity in the national grid, they said.
The private sector’s enormous success in power generation has prompted the government to invite them to invest in the transmission segment of the sector, Power Division sources said.
The latest government statistics show the private sector’s contribution to power generation hit 11,057 MW while the public sector output is 9286 MW against the country’s total power generation of around 20,854 MW.
Inspired this great success, the government has now moved to unlock the investment scope for the private sector in the transmission segment as well, said Mohammad Hossain, Director General of the Power Cell.
Power Cell is a technical wing of the Power Division, which is responsible for preparing policy guideline and implement reforms in the Power Sector.
The Power Cell has already proposed guideline by accumulating a number of models for transmission electricity which is now followed by different countries in this regard.
Official sources said as part of the Power System Master Plan, 2016, the Power Division outlined a $35 billion investment potentials in the transmission segment up to 2041.
As per the plan, the power transmission lines will be expanded to 36,870 kms across the country by 2041.
Of the total grid transmission lines, 16,655 kms will be of 132 kV while 9,717 kms of 230 kV, 1,740 kms of 400 kV and 796 kms of 765 kV, according to officials at the Power Division.
According to the Power Cell statistics, the total length of transmission lines at present are 11,123 kms covering all over Bangladesh. Of this, 132 kV transmission lines are 7,082 kms while 230 kV 3,343 kms and 400 kV lines are 698 kms. Until now, there is no 765 kV line anywhere in the country.
A good number of foreign and local firms lined up with the government by placing their offers to express their intention for investment in the transmission sector, sources said.
They said that the transmission sector is coming into focus because of the government strategy to keep the power generation momentum continued until 2041 when electricity generation is planned to reach about 60,000 MW.
Power Division officials said the government envisioned a total of $216 billion investment in three segments of power sector –generation, transmission and distribution– up to 2041 from 2017.
Of this, it requires $150 billion in generation, $35 billion in transmission and $31 billion in distribution.
But so far the private investment is allowed only in generation sector while transmission and distribution sectors are not opened for private investors.
With new policy guidelines coming into place, the transmission segment will be opened for private investors despite it is a little bit sensitive as national security is involved in the sector, said Mohammad Hossain.
But overcoming the security concerns, many countries including neighboring India has allowed private investment in transmission sector. In Bangladesh the investment could be in private-public partnership (PPP) as well, he said.
