Bangladesh has been undergoing an acute energy crisis for almost four years now, with the days of rolling blackouts and long hours spent without any electricity being prevalent once again.
While the issue was ostensibly kickstarted by the global energy crisis brought about by Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine, it exposed just how reliant Bangladesh continues to be on the global energy market and fossil fuels. This issue has, rightfully so, highlighted the importance of our country pivoting away from traditional modes of power generation and adopting more sustainable, cleaner technologies such as renewable energy.
While our renewable energy policies take shape, it is imperative that Bangladesh start adopting more innovative solutions when it comes to tackling the energy crisis. To that end, a recent development coming out of Independent University, Bangladesh holds much promise.
According to reports, an IUB graduate student by the name of Halima Haque has developed a machine learning-based model that could help authorities predict power consumption trends in Dhaka, optimize electricity distribution -- particularly during peak summer demand -- and reduce load shedding. The research, supervised by Professor Md Abdur Razzak from IUB’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, leverages over 6.5 million real-world electricity consumption data points collected from Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd between the years 2020 and 2023.
These are the kinds of forward-thinking solutions which Bangladesh can most definitely benefit from, especially when it comes to perpetually embattled sectors such as power generation.
The period between the latter half of March and all the way up to the end of April usually constitute the hottest period of the year for Bangladesh, and thus is the period when a steady supply of energy is needed the most for both domestic and industrial uses. These patterns are already well known and thus can be further bolstered by advanced, machine learning-based technologies to better plan out electricity distribution in our cities.
For Bangladesh, a country which is still not out of the least developed country net, it is crucial that innovative new technologies are harnessed to tackle some of our most pressing infrastructural crises.
Monday, March 17, 2025
