We welcome the prime minister’s inauguration of six new power plant projects this week.
Bangladesh needs more reliable power supplies to support industrial growth and create new jobs.
Four of the plants have been built by independent power producers in Munshiganj, Natore, Narayanganj, and Narsingdi. Together they will add 314.7MW of electricity to the national grid.
The projects form part of a program to construct some 13 more power plants by next year and increase power generation capacity to 20,000MW by 2021. Current generation capacity is now above 13,265MW, up from 3,268MW in 2009.
It is vital these projects be supported by continuing investment in more reliable power lines to reduce system loss and inefficiencies.
To achieve these goals, the government still needs to raise the price of electricity so that revenue from sales of electricity can be used to finance more new power plants and incentivise investment in more solar home power systems.
Higher energy prices are essential to attract further investment in new power plants and fuel resources. They can also help cut waste, improve reliability, and save the large amount of taxpayer funds which are wasted on inefficient public subsidies.
Creating new jobs and raising living standards is an integral part of the steps Bangladesh has to take to build the increased resilience which our population needs to adapt to the negative consequences of climate change.
The government must make better use of market mechanisms to encourage sensible use of energy and encourage companies to invest in sustainable energy supplies.
