With the news that Bangladesh is all set to sign a tripartite agreement with Nepal and India for the import of hydro-power from Nepal through Indian transmission lines, now is the perfect time for the interim government to begin laying down the necessary policies in place for Bangladesh to begin pivoting towards clean energy.
Yes, Bangladesh is currently in the midst of an energy crisis, to the point where we are back to the days of rolling blackouts. While the crisis was ostensibly kickstarted by the fuel crisis brought on by world events some years ago, Bangladesh was never able to fully recover from it.
To this end, importing energy from our neighbours makes sense as an immediate remedy to the situation -- Bangladesh, Nepal, and India recently agreed to sign an agreement to import 40MW of electricity from Nepal via India six years after an understanding on energy cooperation was reached. This will surely help us in the short term.
However, power generation is one of the core factors which has direct bearing on a country’s overall economic outlook, and importing energy is still expensive regardless of agreements. It is clear that, now more than ever, Bangladesh needs to begin investing the necessary funds and effort in pivoting to clean energy.
As has been known for a long time now, clean energy -- which is energy generated from clean, renewable sources -- is the next natural step in power generation, a step which many countries have already taken when it comes to their own energy policies. Despite the many failings of the previous government, on paper its policies on clean energy were still sound, which is why the interim government needs to ensure that such plans are given the due resources and, if necessary, go beyond those initial plans.
Bangladesh’s position as a climate vulnerable country all but dictates that we introduce sustainability into each and every facet of how our country runs -- the way we power the country is the most obvious first step.
Yes, Bangladesh is currently in the midst of an energy crisis, to the point where we are back to the days of rolling blackouts. While the crisis was ostensibly kickstarted by the fuel crisis brought on by world events some years ago, Bangladesh was never able to fully recover from it.
To this end, importing energy from our neighbours makes sense as an immediate remedy to the situation -- Bangladesh, Nepal, and India recently agreed to sign an agreement to import 40MW of electricity from Nepal via India six years after an understanding on energy cooperation was reached. This will surely help us in the short term.
However, power generation is one of the core factors which has direct bearing on a country’s overall economic outlook, and importing energy is still expensive regardless of agreements. It is clear that, now more than ever, Bangladesh needs to begin investing the necessary funds and effort in pivoting to clean energy.
As has been known for a long time now, clean energy -- which is energy generated from clean, renewable sources -- is the next natural step in power generation, a step which many countries have already taken when it comes to their own energy policies. Despite the many failings of the previous government, on paper its policies on clean energy were still sound, which is why the interim government needs to ensure that such plans are given the due resources and, if necessary, go beyond those initial plans.
Bangladesh’s position as a climate vulnerable country all but dictates that we introduce sustainability into each and every facet of how our country runs -- the way we power the country is the most obvious first step.