City Desk :
In power generation, reducing overheads is usually very difficult, particularly when the global crude oil prices are on a firm upward trend.
But migration to low-cost solar energy could help the state-run liquid-fuelled power plants in Bangladesh offset the financial stress caused by a costlier crude.
This suggestion has come from key players in the renewable energy industry, who cite the recent rise in diesel prices to pester the government to invest heavily in renewable energy sources, reports UNB.
In fact, the government increased the diesel rates to Tk 80 a litre from Tk 65 per litre in November last year, while the furnace oil prices remained static at Tk 60 per litre.
As per the 2020-21 annual report of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), a whopping Tk 779.40 crore was spent on diesel to generate electricity from its own liquid-fuelled power plants.
The production cost of electricity from liquid fuel in rental and quick rental power plants as well as from independent power producers (IPPs) and small independent producers (SIPPs) is about Tk 16.49 a unit, on an average, according to the report.
On the other hand, the BPDB produces 7.4 MW solar power from its own Kaptai plant whose production cost comes to Tk 5.7 a unit. Similarly, it buys power from a number of small-scale solar plants at a rate of Tk 10.36 to Tk 16.11 per unit.
The country’s grid-connected solar power generation capacity, as per the report, is 129 MW (0.59%) — but the BPDB generated 158 million units (0.20%) in 2020-21.
According to the report, the country’s overall power generation capacity is 25,235 MW. Of this, the grid-connected generation is 22,031 MW that comes from a total of 146 units at different power stations across the country while 3,204 MW is from off-grid sources.
