Currently, there is a deficit of Tk 1.16 per unit of electricity. If Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) becomes efficient, the deficit will come down. To this end, BPDB will have to be self-sufficient.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid made the remarks at a webinar on Saturday in the context of a deficit of Tk 7,000-8,000 crore a year in power sector. Forum for Energy Reports Bangladesh (FERB) organised the seminar.
FERB Chairman Arun Karmakar presided over the seminar while Executive Director of the organization, Shamim Jahangir was the moderator.
The state minister further said, "I will not say it is subsidy, the government is investing here. BPDB will have to think, how can it come out from there shortly. State-owned companies need to raise investment to ensure affordable prices, which will reduce electricity cost in phases. We should move towards new technology. Old power plants should be shut down.”
"I am expecting a development budget of Tk 26,000 crore in the upcoming budget of 2021-22 financial year. Special importance has been given to development and expansion of power transmission and distribution system,” he continued.
“The allocation for ADP (Annual Development Program) in the power sector in 2009-10 fiscal year was Tk 2,644.26 crore, which had increased to 24,768.22 crore in FY 2020-21. That means, the importance of power sector is increasing,” the junior minister added.
Nasrul Hamid said “All the power plants had to be run to handle heat wave during the ongoing summer. Power generation has reached to about 14000MW. It is necessary to understand if we shut down old power plant, then it can be handled or not. We don’t want to see load shedding for even a minute. Power Division has to confirm this matter. We could not run some power plants due to gas shortage. It has not been possible to generate with full capacity in Rangpur due to coal crisis. On the other hand, it could not bring total generated electricity from Payra Power Plant due to lack of transmission line.”
Power Division Secretary, Habibur Rahman said, "We have been able to provide uninterrupted power to the heatwave during the Coronavirus situation, which is a great relief.
Engineer Belayet Hossain, chairman of BPDB, said “Although the government has allowed rental and quick rental power plants on short-term basis, now their owners pursuing for long-term agreement which cannot be acceptable in any case.
He observed that despite huge criticism from the mass people, the government allowed these high-cost rental and quick rental power plants as remedy to the power crisis of that time. But these high-cost power plants cannot be operated beyond their short-term agreement period.
“The BPDB also said that still the government has to purchase electricity at a much higher rate from the private power producers and sell it to consumers at lower rate that incurs a huge financial loss to the BPDB,” he added.
"There are indications that our budget may be reduced due to special emphasis on the health sector," he said. I hope the government will look into the matter in the revised budget, he added
Engineer Mohammad Hossain, Director General of Power Cell, said, “Our generation has a surplus of 7,000 MW of electricity. Even then we are facing load shedding. In some places we have few minor problems. Major development has done. Now it is necessary to do fine tuning.”
Engineer Md Mozammel Hossain, Vice President of Bangladesh Independent Power Producers’ Association (BIPPA) presented the keynote paper at the seminar. He mentioned the contribution of private power producers in the power sector and sought the cooperation of the power division on stamp duty and registration fee, advance tax, late bill payment, environmental certificate, rent of storage tank etc.
BIPPA chairman Imran Karim said the private power producers have to face difficult times due to the increased import duty of furnace oil to 34 percent and also for obligation on paying advanced income tax.