With the world currently in the grips of a massive energy crisis brought on by global events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the effects are clearly being felt everywhere, including Bangladesh.
For a developing nation such as ours, even the slightest hitch in our energy supply can mean adverse effects on the entire economy, and that is exactly what we are witnessing at this very moment: Due to the acute power deficit and frequent load-shedding, the adoption of technology for Bangladesh’s export-oriented industries, manufacturing sector, and the financial sector is facing a crisis.
According to the Power Division, from last July to September, the largest amount of load-shedding per day was 2,000–2,200 megawatts, but in October this shortfall grew to 2,500–3,000 megawatts, the highest level since last July.
This is an untenable state of affairs, more so for our industries as the widening gap in our electrical supply is causing a major decline in financial transactions and output, as well as creating a sharp spike in production and operating expenses.
With no end to the global fuel crisis in sight, clearly now is the time for the government to start ramping up its own power generation efforts. Projects such as the Rampal coal-fired power station and the Rooppur nuclear power plant have long been under construction, their timely completion alone would have sidestepped our current energy generation issues to a great deal.
Even though Bangladesh has been pretty behind the curve in adopting modern energy generation methods in general, there is still time for the government to start exploring alternatives. Renewable energy is incontrovertibly the future of energy generation, and while Bangladesh’s share of green energy sources that are connected to the national grid still persists below 1% a series of positive developments towards expanding its reach gives us hope.
Relying on fossil fuels is simply not sustainable anymore and as the current global crisis has proven, accessibility is now also an issue. Our economy’s rapid growth cannot keep waiting for the fuel tanks to fill up.
