Bangladesh government is grappling with huge budgetary pressure as it has to pay US$3.65 billion so far to import energy since the start of the Iran-Israel war that has caused g fuel price swelling, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Regional Balanced Development and Sustainable State Capacity,’ organized by General Economics Division in the capital, he said it is not only straining the budget but also the forex reserves.
“Electricity is the most expensive as per unit production cost reaches Tk 25-28 due to costly liquid fuel import. We had to pay a lot of money to import diesel and LNG because of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz,” the minister told the event.
“As the energy minister, I have to bear the brunt most as the power subsidy is causing bleeding to the budget,” he repented.
He alleged that the previous Awami League government did little to ensure energy security in the country as not a single gas well had been explored during the last 17 years.
Although it had installed around 32,000MW power generation capacity without ensuring necessary fuel for it, whereas present attainable capacity is only 18,000MW which is very close to current demand, he added.
Tuku also criticized the previous political government’s energy policy, saying that it only installed two FSRUs, limiting the country’s LNG import capabilities.
As a result, the country’s industries and people had to suffer a lot due to a recent debacle in one of the FSRUs.
Alongside a push for low-cost 10,000MW solar power generation by next five years, the minister said, the government has already signed a G2G contract to set up another FSRU with China’s assistance.
At the same time, the BNP government is trying to import LNG from Malaysia through containers, which will be directly connected to the industries, but it will take two years, Tuku said.
Besides, steps have been taken to supply gas from Bhola to eight large industries through containers, for which a previous contract with Intraco has been resumed that was scrapped during the interim government, according to the minister.
While listing present challenges for the power sector, he said distribution system still remains a headache for the government.
“Despite installing nearly, 32,000MW generation capacity, the past government did not ensure distribution lines for all. Even, power evacuation system for Rooppur nuclear power has not been done properly,” he pointed out.
About the complaints of “ghost electricity bills,” he called upon consumers to change mindset of wasting electricity and switch to pre-paid metres in order to keep usage within control.
He also called upon officials to remain patriotic so that public money is not wasted in the power and energy sector as observed during the previous government’s tenure.