An allocation of Tk 30,317 crore has been proposed for the energy and power sector for the next financial year 2024-25. Of this, Tk 29,230 crore is allocated to the power sector, with Tk 29,177 crore for development and Tk53 crore for operations. On the other hand, Tk 1,087 crore is allocated for the energy and mineral resources sector, with Tk 998 crore for development and Tk 89 crore for operations.
In comparison, the allocation for the financial year 2023-24 was Tk34,819 crore for the electricity and energy sector. Accordingly, a total of Tk 4,502 crore less has been proposed for this sector in the next financial year.
Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali proposed the allocations while presenting the national budget in Parliament on Thursday.
During the budget address, he suggested a special allocation. He said, "Considering the importance of renewable energy in building a developed, prosperous, smart, and sustainable Bangladesh by 2041, I am proposing a special allocation of Tk 100 crore to encourage its development and use."
He also proposed a Tk 100 crore budget for research and development activities. He said, "The Blue Economy Cell is working under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to coordinate the activities of the relevant ministries and departments concerned with the blue economy for the optimal utilization of marine minerals and other resources. Considering the importance of extracting marine resources and their fair use, I am proposing to allocate Tk 100 crore for research and development activities in this sector."
The Finance Minister emphasized that the government is giving the highest importance and top priority to the development of the power sector. He stated that the government has already fulfilled its pledge by bringing 100 percent of the population under electricity coverage and has plans to increase the power generation capacity to 40,000 MW by 2030 and 60,000 MW by 2041. There are also plans to increase the power transmission lines to 24,000 circuit kilometers by modernizing the grid. Besides, the government has formulated the Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) as part of the integrated master plan for the power and energy sector.
In 2009, the power generation capacity was only 4,942 MW, which has now increased to 30,277 MW (including captive and renewable energy). Currently, 27 power plants with a capacity of 9,144 MW are under construction. Per capita power generation has increased from 220 KWh to 602 KWh. Following the construction of 7,246 circuit-km of transmission lines in the last 15 years, the total length of transmission lines has increased to 15,246 circuit-km. The total length of distribution lines stands at 6.43 lakh km. Electricity distribution system loss has decreased from 14.33 percent in 2009 to 7.65 percent in 2023.
As part of the long-term master plan for power generation, a plan has been adopted to import about 9,000 MW of electricity from neighbouring countries by 2041 under regional and sub-regional programs. A target of 40 percent of the total power generation from renewable energy has been set. Currently, 1,160 MW of electricity through grid interconnection and 1,600 MW from coal-based power plants are being supplied from India to the national grid of Bangladesh.
He mentioned that the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant construction project in Ishwardi, Pabna, is under implementation. Once completed, a total of 2,400 MW of electricity from two units will be connected to the national grid, accelerating the economic development of the country.
Furthermore, in the building of a Smart Bangladesh by 2041, emphasis has been laid on smart power generation, transmission, and distribution systems, including the introduction of a smart grid system.
Our government is working relentlessly to ensure safety and energy supply in the country. In January 2009, our gas production was 1,744 million cubic feet per day, which has now increased to about 2,100 million cubic feet. Additionally, about 1,000-1,050 million cubic feet of imported LNG is being added to the national grid daily.
About 14 million tons of coal have been extracted from the Barapukuria coal mine until January 2024. The extracted coal is being used in the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant to generate electricity.
Natural gas accounts for 54 to 59 percent of the country's total commercial fuel. Currently, the number of discovered gas fields is 29, of which 20 are in production. BAPEX plans to drill and work over 48 wells under Petrobangla between January 2023 and December 2025 to explore and extract oil/gas in onshore areas to meet the increasing gas demand of the country. It is noteworthy that since February 2014, a total of 49 wells (12 exploration, 6 development, and 31 workover wells) have been completed by BAPEX.
Without impairing the interests of Bangladesh and making the existing 'Offshore Model PSC 2019' more attractive in the light of production-sharing agreements of various neighbouring countries, the Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2023 has been formulated. Under this contract, the 'Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round 2024' has been started to recruit international companies for oil and gas exploration and extraction in 9 blocks of shallow sea and 15 blocks of deep sea. It is expected that PSCs for deep and shallow seas will be signed by December this year.
Regarding LNG, he said that imported LNG is being supplied to the national grid from two floating LNG terminals (FSRU) installed in the deep sea at Moheshkhali area of Cox's Bazar, each terminal having a regasification capacity of 500 million cubic feet per day. Besides, another floating LNG terminal with a daily supply capacity of 600 million cubic feet of LNG is being set up in the Moheshkhali area. Moreover, contract signing is underway to supply 500 million cubic feet of LNG per day to the Payra port area. Setting up a land-based LNG terminal with a capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet per day is also underway at Matarbari in Cox's Bazar.
To strengthen the energy security of the country, activities have been undertaken to increase the storage capacity of fuel oil to 60 days instead of 45 days. In FY 2008-09, the storage capacity of fuel oil in the country was 894,000 metric tons. In FY 2022-23, it increased to about 1.4 million metric tons. To meet the country's fuel oil demand, the ERL Unit-II project has been initiated to increase the refining capacity of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) from 1.5 million metric tons to 4.5 million metric tons.
The government has undertaken several activities to modernize the energy distribution system. A total of 533,023 prepaid meters have been installed. Of these, Titas Gas Distribution Company Limited installed 416,018 in the Dhaka metropolitan area, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited installed 67,005 in the Chittagong area, and Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Limited installed 50,000 in the Sylhet area.
Additionally, industrial-level customers are being brought under the purview of Electronic Volume Corrector (EVC) metres.
