*

*Subjected to actual operating conditions

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had a vision to supply power and energyat an affordable price to all the citizens as well as to industry, agriculture andcommerce. He has also been able to foresee that without ensuring the supply ofown fuel, industrialization and improvement of living standard of the peoplewould not be possible. The government of his proud daughter, Sheikh Hasina,has already been able to reach almost there — the electricity coverage nowstands at 97% and is expected to be 100 percent by the end of this year.However, it was achieved not through following the path showed by the Fatherof the Nation, but by gradually increasing the dependence on imported energy,resulting in increased prices. Analysts think the present prices are no moreaffordable — be it in cases of household and commercial or industrial usages.There are also apprehensions that our industries would lose internationalcompetitiveness if the prices continue to increase. And, the government wouldhave hardly any alternative but to raise the prices due to increased dependenceon imports. So, the government should focus on exploring own resources tocome out of the import trap and ensure energy at affordable prices.

Fortnightly Magazine, Vol 18, Issue 4, August 1-15

The international prices of oil, gasand coal have depleted substan-tially due to the Covid-19 pan-demic as all these are somehowlinked. It will not be worth takingrisks with a particular primaryfuel as Bangladesh is graduallybecoming dependent on im-ported primary fuel.

Engr. A.M. Khurshedul Alam,CEO, NWPGCL, said this in re-sponse to a suggestion for gener-ating power in future mostly onimported LNG instead of coal.

Electricity and fuels are one ofthe key driving forces of a coun-try’s economic development andadvancement. With a view to en-suring the country’s energy secu-rity by upholding the nationalinterest, Bangabandhu, throughArticle 143 of the Constitution,established the state ownershipon all domestic fuel and mineralresources. The country is advanc-ing towards the materialization ofBangabandhu’s dream aiming...

Bangladesh like the rest of the world isgoing through the darkest period of the his-tory. The COVID-19 has isolated the coun-tries in their backyards, so far killing over600,000 people and infecting more than17.5 million people. The world economyhas been melted while millions have losttheir jobs. For survival, many have reverse-migrated from urban to rural areas.Bangladesh has also been adversely im-pacted by the pandemic. The works re-sumed after 66 days of forced closure, butneither the official activities nor the...

41 19 9

EditorMollah M Amzad Hossain

Advisory EditorAnwarul Islam TarekMortuza Ahmad FaruqueSaiful Amin

International EditorDr. Nafis Ahmed

Contributing EditorsSaleque Sufi

Online EditorGSM Shamsuzzoha (Nasim)

Managing EditorAfroza Hossain

Deputy EditorSyed Mansur Hashim

Magazine AdministratorAKM Shamsul HoqueReportersArunima HossainJannatul Ferdushy Sova

Assistant Online EditorAditya HossainDesign & GraphicsMd. Monirul Islam PhotographyBulbul Ahmed

ProductionMufazzal Hossain JoyComputer GraphicsMd. Uzzal Hossain

Circulation AssistantKhokan Chandra DasEditorial, News & CommercialRoom 509, Eastern Trade Center56 Inner Circular Road (VIP Road)Naya Paltan. GPO Box : 677Dhaka-1000, BangladeshTel & Fax : 88-02-58314532Email: ep@dhaka.netenergypower@gmail.comWebsite: www.ep-bd.comPriceBangladesh: Tk 50, SAARC: US$ 6,Asia: US$ 8, Europe: US$ 10, NorthAmerica, Africa & Australia: US$ 14

Encouraged by the readers and patrons, the EP would continue bringingout Green Pages to contribute to the country’s efforts in its journeytowards environment-friendly energy.

5 WORLD WATCH

Latest Development in

World

6,8 SNAPSHOT

Latest Development

9 COVER

Import dependence

Not His Philosophy

COVER ARTICLE

15 Ode to A Dreamer

SPECIAL ARTICLE

19 Bangabandhu & Energy

Sector Planning in

Bangladesh

ARTICLE

23 Quest for National Energy

Securityy

REPORT

25 UN Chief Tells China Coal

Has No Place in Post-COVID

Recovery

25 Power Division Implements

94pc Project Work Under ADP

27 BPC Imposes Ban on Sub

standard Fuel

27 Thrust on Scrapping Speedy

Energy Supply Law

28 Japan Marubeni Wins Deal for

$2bn Myanmar LNG Power

Plant

28 MAN Energy Solutions

Launches Program for the

Future

29 LNG Spot Prices May Slow

Deepwater Gas Activity

Offshore India

29 200 Japanese Join

Bangladesh Webinar to Drive

Investment

CLIMATE

35 Organizations Condemn

Matarbari Coal Power Plant

Accident

37 Climate Vulnerable Forum

Picks Saima Wazed as

Thematic Ambassador

38 Student Files First Climate

Change Lawsuit Against

Australia

39 Climate Change on Track to

Wipe Out Polar Bears by 2100

INTERVIEW

41 Engr. A.M. Khurshedul Alam;

Chief Executive Officer,

North-West Power Generation

Company Limited (NWPGCL)

31 Smart Lampposts in The

Limelight

33 Solar Module Industry in

Trouble

33 Solar Energy Sector Seeks

Govt Support to Survive

Covid-19

34 New Sino-BD JV in Energy

Sector Launched

34 Modi Launches Asia’s

Largest Solar Plant in

Madhya Pradesh

5

Worldwatch

August 1, 2020

Gazprom Neftand Shell es-tablished ajoint ventureto study anddevelop theLeskinsky and

Pukhutsyayakhsky license blocks onthe Gydan Peninsula.

The combine will study a large,promising cluster in the northeasternpart of the peninsula, Gazprom saidin a release.

Following completion, expected thisyear following receipt of corporateand regulatory approvals, the part-

ners will each have a 50% interest in the capital of the jointventure, which will be managed by Gazprom Neft and Shellon a parity basis.

The 3,000-sq km Leskinsky license block lies in the Taymyrdistrict of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Hydrocarbon resources mayexceed 100 million tonnes of oil equivalent, Gazprom said.

The adjoining 800-sq km Pukhutsyayakhsky block lies in theTazovsky district of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Itsresources are estimated at 35 million tonnes of oil equivalent,Gazprom said.

Gazprom, Shell LaunchJV for Gydan PeninsulaHydrocarbon ClusterDevelopment

Wärtsilä willsupply a broadscope of equip-ment forCDWE’s (CSBC-DEME Wind En-

gineering) main installation vessel Green Jade.

The full scope includes four Wärtsilä 46DF and two Wärtsilä20DF dual-fuel engines, as well as transverse and steerablethrusters, DP-3 solution, navigation system, and selective cat-alytic reduction systems for emissions abatement.

The company will also provide site supervision services.

The 216-m (709-ft) long DP-3 vessel will be built at the CSBCshipyard in Taiwan for offshore wind farm applications.

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled to be delivered during2021 and the vessel is expected to begin operations in the Tai-wan Straits in 2023.

Wärtsilä to ProvideEngines, Thrusters forCDWE Installation Vessel

Total hassigned a$14.9-bil-lion senior

debt financing agreement for the Mozambique LNG project.

This is the country’s first onshore LNG development, compris-ing a two-train liquefaction plant with a capacity of 13.1 MMtons/yr supplied by the deepwater Golfinho and Atum fieldsin Area 1 in the offshore Rovuma basin.

Mozambique LNG represents a total post-FID investment of$20 billion. The project financing amounts to $14.9 billion,the biggest ever in Africa, Total claimed, and includes directand covered loans from eight export credit agencies (ECAs),19 commercial bank facilities, and a loan from the AfricanDevelopment Bank.

The ECAs participating in the financing include Export ImportBank of the United-States, Japan Bank for International Corp.,

Nippon Export and Invest-ment Insurance, UK ExportFinance, Servizi Assicuratividel Commercio Estero ofItaly, Export Credit InsuranceCorp. of South Africa, Atra-dius Dutch State Business,and Export-Import Bank ofThailand.

Total Secures Financing forMozambique LNG Project

Hallibur-ton, Mi-c r o s o f tCorp., andAccenturehave en-

tered into a five-year strategic agreement to advance the oilfieldservice provider’s digital capabilities in Microsoft Azure.

Under the agreement, Halliburton will complete its move tocloud-based digital platforms and strengthen its customer offer-ings by:

•Enhancing real-time platforms for expanded remote operations

• Improving analytics capability with the Halliburton Data Lakeusing machine learning and artificial intelligence

• Accelerating the deployment of new technology and applica-tions, including SOC2 compliance, for Halliburton’s overall sys-tem reliability and security.

Jeff Miller, Halliburton’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “Thestrategic agreement with Microsoft and Accenture is an importantstep in our adoption of new technology and applications to en-hance our digital capabilities, drive additional business agilityand reduce capital expenditures.”

Judson Althoff, executive vice president, Microsoft’s WorldwideCommercial Business, said: “Moving to the cloud allows companiesto create market-shaping customer offerings and drive tangible busi-ness outcomes. Through this alliance with Halliburton and Accen-ture, we will apply the power of the cloud to unlock digitalcapabilities that deliver benefits for Halliburton and its customers.”

Halliburton to CompleteMove to Cloud-Based DigitalPlatforms

6

Snapshot

August 1, 2020

The governmentplans to cele-brate full elec-tricity coveragein December,despite present

coverage is 97 percent, said state minister for power and en-ergy Nasrul Hamid recently.

“Consumers’ satisfaction is our main faith and we should takeplan for effective communication with customers to sustainthe trust on our services,” he said while addressing a virtualmeeting on progress of electricity division’s annual develop-ment program (ADP) from his residence.

The minister expressed his satisfaction over achieving 94.40percent ADP in the last fiscal year. He called upon the officialsconcerned to work sincerely to accomplish full ADP in thecurrent fiscal.

The government is now implementing 87 power projects.

Power division Secretary Dr Sultan Ahmed, BangladeshPower Development Borad (BPDB) Chairman Belayet Hos-

sain, Bangladesh RuralElectrification Board(BREB) Chairman MajGen (rtd) Moin Uddin,Director General ofPower Cell MohammadHossain, among others,also joined the meeting.

Govt to Celebrate 100pcElectricity Coverage byDecember

Three members ofa family sufferedburns in a gaspipeline explosion

and a two-year-old toddler of the same family died after a wallcaved in on him during the blast at a house in the capital’sKasaituli area recently.

The deceased is named as Moinur, son of Mohammad Jabed,whereas the injured are Jabed, 35, his wife Sheuli Akter, 25,and their daughter Jannat, 4. The minor boy succumbed to hisinjuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

Bangshal Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shahin Fakir saidthe gas line was faulty.

The accident might have happened due to excessive pressureor during an attemptto light a fire on theground floor of thetwo-storey building,he said, adding thatother buildings werealso damaged in theexplosion.

Boy Dies, 3 SustainBurns in Gas Line Blast

State Min-ister forPower, En-ergy andM i n e r a lResources

Nasrul Hamid has directed different entities in power sectorto evolve specific working strategy to improve the consumers’services.

He gave the directives during discussion on a report placedby the international consultancy firm KPMG on human re-source development and efficiency improvement of the powersector through videoconference from his residence with topofficials of Power Division and its subordinate bodies.

He also suggested the officials to take help from the reputedinternational companies working in the power sector likeSiemens, GE and ABB to train up the manpower.

The virtual meeting was attended by Power Secretary Dr Sul-tan Ahmed, BPDB Chairman Md Belayet Hossain, BREBChairman Major Gen (Retd) Moin Uddin, Power Cell DirectorGeneral Mohammad Hossain and managing directors of dif-ferent companies.

The KPMG prepared the report on different information of 14entities in power sector, which was placed in the meeting bythe Power Cell.

Evolve Specific WorkingStrategy to ImproveConsumers’ Services: Nasrul

Gas supply insome areas of thecapital remainedsuspended from

12:00pm to 6:00pm recently due to relocation work of gaspipelines under Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) Project.

The areas are Dhaka Cantonment Residential Area, SangsadBhaban areas, Monipuripara, Agargaon, Taltola, WestShewrapara, Paikpara, Paschim Kazipara, Pirerbag, Mirpur-10and Shishu Mela to Agargaon areas.

For the emergency relocation of pipelines, gas supply to all res-idential, commercial, industrial consumers and CNG stations inthese areas will remain off during the period, said a press releaseof Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd.

Gas Supply Remains Offin Some City Areas

Household and mini-mal consumers ofTitas Gas will be ableto pay their gas bills

from their homes, as the largest state-owned gas distributioncompany is all set to roll out a digital collection system in thewake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To make the service easier, the Titas Gas Transmission and Dis-tribution Company Limited has signed a memorandum of un-derstanding (MoU) with Nagad, a mobile financial service (MFS)provider of the Bangladesh Post Office.

A few days ago, it inked a similar deal with Rocket, another MFSprovider belonging to Dutch-Bangla Bank.

High officials at Titas Gas, Nagad and Rocket confirmed the in-formation.

Currently, Titas collects its revenue through 40 banks belongingto both the public and private sectors.

Titas Gas to Roll OutDigital Bill Collection

8

Snapshot

August 1, 2020

Work onthe coun-try's biggest7 1 8 - M W

capacity in LNG-fueled combined cycle power plant gets mo-mentum after roping the Japanese JERA in the project.

The project, owned jointly by JERA and India's Reliance, iscontractually bound to be commissioned by August 31, 2022,a senior Power Division official said.

The LNG (liquefied natural gas) import is expected to increaseby an estimated 110-million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) withthe commissioning of the power plant.

JERA struck a deal with Reliance Power Ltd to acquire a 49-per cent stake of the new gas-fired thermal plant on September03, 2019.

The partnership agreement was made just two days after finalcontracts over its execution on September 01.

The under-construction plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj,some 40 kilometers southeast of Dhaka, is the first project par-ticipation by JERA in Bangladesh.

The Japanese firm currently holds 22-per cent stake with theoverall Summit Power International.

718MW LNG-Fired ThermalPlant Picks Up Steam

Nepal has allowed itsenergy authorities totrade electricity with In-dian and Bangladesh,

according to the Himalayan Times.

The government recently gave the go-ahead to the NepalElectricity Authority (NEA) to this effect, it said.

The Nepalese media reported that it is mandatory for the NEAto get the approval of the government for inter-country elec-tricity trade.

"…the cabinet meeting on Monday gave the approval to sellelectricity to India and Bangladesh when the domestic pro-duction was high and to import electricity from the neighbor-ing countries when the production was low," the report quotedenergy, water resources and irrigation minister BarshamanPun.

With the government's consent, the NEA will now be able tobuy and sell electricity at competitive prices, disclosed theleading Nepalese daily. "Like trade in goods, electricity tradehas also been approved in real time," Mr Pun was quoted assaying.

He said the NEA was given permission for inter-country tradeso that it could keep a record of electricity trade and price,the report mentioned.

Nepal to Sell Powerto BD, India

Automation ofthe state-runpower sectorentities has be-

come necessary to bring about transparency and accounta-bility, and check corruption, state minister for power, energyand mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said.

Ensuring consumers' satisfaction and discharging duties by thepower sector employees with accountability would be easieronce the automation is fully implemented, he said.

For smooth introduction of the automated operations system,implementation of the enterprise resource planning, or ERP,is necessary, he added. Mr. Hamid was speaking at a virtualmeeting on ERP solution with the top executives of the state-run power sector companies from his residence.

The Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy andMineral Resources, or MPEMR, is currently implementing theERP with assistance from Microsoft, Computer Services,Techno Heaven, and Tech Vision, he said.

Power Sector Automationto Check Corruption

The govern-ment isplanning es-tabl i sh ingan Opera-

tions and Maintenance (O&M) company for the power sectorto lead the operations and maintenance of power sector fa-cilities to the maximum extent possible with internal resourcesand expertise.

Having state-run O&M Company will help Bangladesh saveapproximately 20 percent of the total annual developmentbudget in the power sector, sources said.

The Power Division under the ministry of power and energyhas already prepared a position paper to formulate the com-pany, officials confirmed.

Bangladesh’s power sector has been facing a shortage of con-struction supervision, installation, pre-commissioning andpost commissioning teams to set new power plants or main-tain the old ones.

Besides, the power plants have been facing the lack of spe-cialized tools and equipment to maintain the plants in the ab-sence of a specialized company, officials said.

The state-run specialized company with be formed withhighly capable engineering team to help prepare completedocumentation and lead the process for drawings of all equip-ment, dismantling and reassessment procedures and re-com-missioning procedures.

State-Run O&M Companyon Cards for Power Sector

9

Cover

August 1, 2020

Bangladesh like the rest ofthe world is going throughthe darkest period of the

history. The COVID-19 has iso-lated the countries in their back-yards, so far killing over600,000 people and infectingmore than 17.5 million people.The world economy has beenmelted while millions have losttheir jobs. For survival, manyhave reverse-migrated fromurban to rural areas. Bangladeshhas also been adversely im-pacted by the pandemic. Theworks resumed after 66 days offorced closure, but neither theofficial activities nor the indus-trial production have fullystarted yet. Consequently, likethe rest of the world, the de-mand for power and energyare still well below the levelcompared to the level it wasaround the same time last year.

The global purchase orders from theRMG sector, the largest export-orientedindustry, have started getting reinstated.But it is still below the normal trend.Different kinds of crises have been cre-ated due to the economic stagnationcreated by the pandemic. The prices ofcoal, oil and gas have crushed in theglobal market for the impediments cre-ated over the much less use of fossilfuel. The global energy giants are in fi-nancial difficulties. The world has lostthe capacity to investment in the oil andgas exploration. There are signs of diffi-culties in the energy transition invest-ment plans of many countries forcreating emission-free new world. Con-cerns are being raised whether the targetto limit the increase of global warmingbelow 2 degrees Celsius by the end ofthis millennium could be achieved.Bangladesh is now in a bit of hesitationto plan for the fuel mix and ensuringtheir sustainable supply for achievingthe vision 2041 of power generationand economic development.

Bangladesh launched its journey fromashes after nine months of liberationwar. Bangabandhu had started makinglong-term economic planning for sus-tainable development of Bangladesh.Harnessing, exploring and exploitingown primary fuel resources for provid-ing foundation for economic develop-ment was among his top priorities. Butthat the oil andgas explorationin Bangladeshwas still beingdone throughleasing out thepotential areasto the foreigncompanies onroyalty basis.The ownershipof that resourcesunder the leaseused to bevested on to theforeign compa-nies. Con-sciously, he didnot hurry ingaining theownership back

for the nation. His first initiative was tocreate institutions and develop ownhuman resources.

The activities in the erstwhile East Pak-istan used to be conducted by the EastPakistan Industrial Development Corpo-ration (EPIDC) through 11 of its divi-sions. One of these was responsible forthe oil and gas exploration and devel-opment. In independent Bangladesh,this was made a full-fledged corporationrenamed as Bangladesh Oil, Gas andMinerals Development Corporation(BOGDC). Dr Habibur Rahman, a notedgeologist, has been made its chairman.From the thought of further strengthen-ing the oil, gas and minerals explorationactivities, two different corporationswere created in 1974. One of this wasBangladesh Oil and Gas Corporation(BOGC), now Petrobangla. TheBOGDC merged into it. Dr HabiburRahman with the status of full secretaryremained as its Chairman. For develop-ment of the minerals, another companynamed Bangladesh Minerals Explo-ration and Development Corporation(BMEDC) was created. Dr FH Khan wasits first Chairman. Following the oilshock in 1973 due to Arab-Israel war,Bangabandhu adopted extensive planfor exploring oil and gas. His prioritywas to reduce the dependence on im-ported fuel. To facilitate this work,Bangladesh Petroleum Act 1974 was

adopted through amending the existingPetroleum Act of 1939. It had broughtan end to leasing out areas to foreigncompanies and the rights of the citizensof Bangladesh on its natural resourceswas established. Petrobangla waslaunched and preparation started forformulation of production sharing con-tract (PSC) following the footprints of In-donesia and Malaysia. In the quickestpossible time, a Model PSC was pre-pared and approved, and using the doc-ument, the PSC bidding round wasannounced. The exploration activitiesby International Oil Companies (IOC)swere also launched in the Bay of Ben-gal. The bids were evaluated, PSCs wereconcluded with six companies andIOCs were on the ground within onlynine months of time.

This is not the end of the story. Duringthe Pakistan days, Shell Oil and PakistanPetroleum Limited (PPL) were operatingthe oil and gas business in Bangladeshunder lease agreements with the gov-ernment. PPL was producing gas afterdiscovering Sylhet and Chhatak Gasfields. After the independence, they leftand the government took over their as-sets renaming the company asBangladesh Petroleum Limited (BPL).Petrobangla it took over at a later stage.Now that the company is being oper-ated as Sylhet Gas Fields Limited(SGFL).

Shell Oil had themajor successesof oil and gasdiscovery duringthe Pakistandays. They dis-covered fivelarge gas fields.These wereTitas, Habiganj,B a k h r a b a d ,Rashidpur andKoilashtila. Ofthese, Titas andHabiganj weredeveloped andbrought underproduction. Gaswas being sup-plied to variousc o n s u m e r s

11August 1, 2020

Rashidpur gas field

through Titas Gas Transmission and Dis-tribution Company. Shell Oil companywas the owner of the gas fields and gastransmission, distribution. According tothe Bangabandhu’s strategy, Petrobanglarequested Shell to bring all their gasfields under production. But initiallythey did not pay heed to it. Then in1974, Petrobangla took over RashidpurGas field, applying the provisions of thePetroleum act formulated in 1974. Thishad rocked the Shell officials. Theystarted discussion when Petrobangla of-fered to sale the ownership of gas fieldsand Titas gas distribution company.After protracted discussion, the pricewas agreed at 4.5 million pound ster-ling. Bangladesh got the opportunity topurchase these assets through paymentof the agreed amount in 9 installments.Final agreement in this regard was con-cluded on August 9, 1975. That historicday is now observed every year as theNational Energy Security Day. In 2006,Energy & Power magazine had first pro-posed to observe the day as the Na-tional Energy Security Day throughorganizing a roundtable conference.The Awami League after forming thegovernment in 2009 started observingthe day as the National Energy SecurityDay.

Bangabandhu was, however, extremelycareful and strategic about dealing withShell for purchasing the assets. His aimwas not to go for any confrontation withthe government of the Netherlands. Thatis why Shell BV continued assistingBangladesh for few years after handingover the fields. The long-term gas supplyto Bangladesh from these five fieldscould be ensured due to such a historicaction of Bangabandhu. Till now, about30% of the national production of gas iscoming from these fields.

Of course, Bangabandhu initiativeswere not confined only to oil and gasexploration and development. Helaunched initiative to explore mineralsas well. It is known that Jamalganj Coalfield was discovered in 1962 after eval-uating the geological data and informa-tion acquired through surveys of UNPak mineral and oil exploration activi-ties of Stanvac. Bangabandhu since thepre-independence time was critical of

the then Pakistan government for devel-oping this field into a mine. During theelection campaign of 1970, he stronglyexpressed his anguish over not develop-ing the Jamalganj coal field. He took aninitiative for exploring coal in independ-ent Bangladesh. A German mining com-pany Fried Krupp Rhostoffe wasengaged for a study on mining from thefield. A British company Powell Dufroynwas also engaged to review and evalu-ate the study report of the German com-pany. Powell found that a limestonelayer was lying above the coal seams.Petrobangla at that time decided onmining limestone before mining coal.But until now, neither the lime nor thecoal mining could be started. The otherinitaives launched by Bangabandhu fordeveloping other mines were stalledafter the gruesome killing of Banga-bandhu. He, of course, could start theworks of hard rock mining before hewas brutally killed.

Bangabandhu had not only initiated ac-tions for exploring own primary energyresources, he also attached top priorityon power generation as well. He con-sidered that the citizens have the rightto get power supply. Giving access ofrural people to power was his brain-child. His daughter Sheikh Hasina,Prime Minister of Bangladesh, is now onthe verge of turning Bangabandhu’sdream of providing access of electricityto all in Bangladesh within 2020. Dur-ing the Pakistan days, one GeneralManager was in charge of East PakistanWater and Power Development Author-ity (EPWAPDA). For speedy develop-ment of the sectors, Bangabandhucreated two separate entities as Waterand Power Development Boards. At thattime, the generation capacity of power,including 45 MW captive generation,was 545 MW. Now in 2020, grid-con-nected generation capacity is 20,383MW. The per capita power use after in-dependence was only 20 kwh. By now,it has increased to 500 kwh. Power gen-eration is now a huge activity undercombined contributions of the publicand private initiatives. Bangabandhuhad sown the seeds through creation ofBPDB in 1972. His proud daughter tookthe bold initiative of ensuring private

sector investment in power generationin 1996. Due to that bold initiative,Bangladesh can now meet the 97 per-cent requirements of power supply.

The visionary initiatives of Banga-bandhu are not finished yet. His visionwas to construct a deep sea jetty for fa-cilitating oil import. He also advised toplan for bottling Liquefied PetroleumGas (LPG) through extraction in refineryinstead of burning natural gas for cook-ing. His thoughts and actions for powerand energy sectors development and at-taching priority of own primary fuelwere not from wild guesses at all. Allthese were part of his visions. A closelook at the first Five Years Plan (FYP)documents would evidence that. Itcalled for additional emphasis on coaland oil exploration. The initiatives forcoal exploration in the northern regionwere taken even after his demisethrough following that vision. The visionalso included plan for expanding the ca-pacity of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL)and directives for setting up LPG plantthere. The construction of deep sea jettyfor smoothening oil imports is under im-plementation now. Depending on his vi-sion, Bangladesh PetroleumCorporation (BPC) was created takingout the responsibilities of crude and pe-troleum products import and distribu-tion from Petrobangla. BPC was the firstto start LPG supply in Bangladesh. Nowthe private sector is leading this LPGbusiness operation in the country.

The plan for developing all the discov-ered gas fields were taken in the firstFYP. Highest priority was given on oiland gas exploration. Bangabandhu be-lieved that without ensuring supply ofown fuel, industrialization and improve-ment of living standard of the peoplewould not be possible. He stressed onsupply of power and energy at afford-able price to all citizens as well as to in-dustry, agriculture and commerce.

But, Bangladesh has, by now, movedaway from the vision of Bangabandhuand his brainchild — the first FYP. Theexploration and development of ownfuel have fallen well behind the desiredlevel over the past 15 years. About 10Tcf of natural gas has been consumed

12August 1, 2020

over this period while the new additionis not more than 2.0 Tcf. The govern-ment has moved away from coal re-source exploitation despite possessinghigh quality coal reserve at mineabledepth. For generating 60,000 MWpower by 2041, the planned fuel mixinclude 35% contribution each fromcoal gas/ LNG. Of the coal, only 1% isplanned to come from local source, theremaining 34% is planned from import.The present capacity of gas supply, in-cluding 1,000 MMCFD imported LNG,is 3,700 MMCFD. By 2041, the supplyfrom local source would be diminishedto nothing and the entire demand isplanned for meeting from LNG import.Bangladesh could not initiate offshoreexploration in several years after suc-cessful resolution of maritime boundarydisputes with India and Myanmar. Inthe present reality of the COVID-19pandemic, the prospect of risk invest-ments in deep water exploration is notat all bright. All these will lead to in-creased dependence on imported pri-mary fuel. It is extremely difficult toassess how the situation would supportthe desired industrialization.

Beyond the grid-connected power gen-eration capacity, there is 2,800 MW ofcaptive power generation capacity.Around 60% of the total supplied gasgoes to power generation (45% for grid-connected power and 15% for captivegeneration). The grid-connected powergeneration comprises of 53.86% gas-based (10,979MW), furnace-oil21.17% (5,540MW), diesel 6.33%(1,290MW), import from India 5.99%(1,160 MW), coal 5.62% (1,146 MW),hydropower 1.13% (230MW) and grid-connected renewable power 0.19% (38MW). The combined capacity of liquidfuel-based generation is 33.50%(6,830MW). The government has a planto reduce liquid fuel-based power gen-eration to 5% by 2041.

Now let us have a view of fuel-basedenergy generation in 2018-2019. Thetotal power generation was 70,533 gi-gawatt hour (Gwh). A fuel-based analy-sis shows that gas 68.50%, furnace oil16.20%, imported power 9.60%, diesel2.90%, coal 4.18%, hydropower 1.0%

and renewables 0.10%. In the prelimi-nary assessment of power generation in2019-2020, the situation changed asgeneration increased to 71,417 Gwh.Of this, gas 71.91%, furnace oil13.19%, imported power 9.30%, diesel0.19%, coal 4.18%, hydropower1.15% and renewables 0.09%. TheCOVID-19 pandemic increased thegas-based power and decrease of liquidfuel use. This would reduce the averagegeneration cost of power.

The first FYP mentioned about recom-mencing fresh feasibility study onRooppur Nuclear Power Plant, but thatdid not get any attention over the entireperiod of army rule. The Awami Leaguegovernment after returning to statepower again in 1996 recommenced thework. This is now a reality. The first nu-clear power is expected to come inpower grid in 2024 or 2025. That willmake an immense contribution toachieving the energy security.

The Energy & Power magazine everyyear in August from its own commit-ment, endeavor for exploring Banga-bandhu’s vision and contributions in aneffort to contribute to lay a foundationfor energy security. It is not different thisyear too. The present energy and powersector realities from close look evi-dences that Bangabandhu’s own partyhas significantly drifted away from hisown vision for fuel dependency. Fol-lowing the present plan, the govern-ment has already stepped into importedfuel preference. The dependencywould continue to increase. Whiledrawn attention, State Minister forPower, Energy and Mineral ResourcesNasrul Hamid said it is not true that wehave moved away from BangabandhuSheikh Mujibur Rahman’s vision and di-rectives on power and energy. Underthe leadership of his daughter, “we areworking on turning Bangabandhu’s vi-sion into reality.” It will be possible tobring all the citizens under the cover-age of power supply within this year.This is going to be the realization ofBangabandhu’s vision. But from the re-alization of global perspective andeconomy, we have initiated actions forimporting coal and LNG. Our gas re-

serve is depleting. Studies on coal ex-ploitation is going on and a decisionwill be taken soon.

Energy researcher and analyst Dr. MTamim said that Bangladesh would be-come 90% dependent on imported fuelby 2030 if the country follows the pres-ent trend. At that situation, it will be ex-tremely difficult supplying energy ataffordable cost to industries.

BUET Professor Dr. Ijaz Hossain ob-served that fuel-intensive industriesmight lose international competitive-ness through using imported fuel. Con-sequently, we should go for lessenergy-intensive industries.

In conclusion, the power generationcost doubled over the past 10 years.There will be no alternative to increas-ing power generation cost again withevery additional LNG import. Injectionof LNG in gas grid will increase the gasprice. The cost of gas-based power gen-eration would also increase. The pref-erence given to coal for reducedgeneration cost might also not happenfor difficulties and the cost of coal im-port. If we really intend to cheaperpower, we have no choice but to expe-dite mining own coal and setting upmine-mouth power plants. That will fa-cilitate generating coal-based power atabout 30% less cost than what wouldhappen with the imported coal. Thepresent leftover proven gas reserve maycompletely deplete by 2031 unlesssome large new gas reserve is added bythen. The oil market crash due to theCOVID-19 pandemic impacts has de-pleted the price of gas in the globalmarket. In the changed world order, theIOCs might not show interest in makingrisk investment in exploration, speciallyin Bangladesh offshore. We must stressupon petroleum resources explorationin the onshore areas. Initiatives must betaken to encourage IOCs in explorationin Bangladesh onshore areas. But it ismore important now is to review all theexisting plans for the power and energysector in the post-COVID period by en-gaging appropriate individuals and in-stitutions. Otherwise, the long-termenergy security of Bangladesh wouldbecome vulnerable.

13August 1, 2020

EP

Many persons dream. Manydreamers dream throughpoems, novels and songs. But

only a few dreamers can turn theirdreams into reality in the life time. Thiseffort is a tribute of an ordinary personto an extraordinary personality whomhistory beacons as one of top dreamturners into reality. Perhaps you canguess by now whom I am talking about.On the occasion of the birth centenaryof the greatest Bengali ever born Banga-bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, thedreamer, architect and translator of adream into reality of Bangladesh. Bornin 1920, he was brutally killed at the be-hest of internationalconspirators by abunch ungratefulBangladeshis on August15, 1975. The personwho sacrificed years ofhis glorious youth from1947 to 1971 strugglingfor emancipation of hissuppressed and op-pressed nation from thetyranny and oppres-sions of Pakistan Rulersgot only three and ahalf years to try andbuild the war ravagednation. For his great vi-sion, he was inspiringand driving the nationbuilding efforts almostfrom ashes. When thesituation was gettingbrighter, the conspira-tors through theirplanted agents killedhim along with his en-tire family. His twodaughters who wereaway in Germany atthat time could avoidbeing wiped out.

Like all other aspects ofbuilding the nation, vi-

sionary Bangabandhu set the basis oflong-term energy security of Bangladeshfor sustainable economic development.This write up will map out his contribu-tions for foundation laying for the en-ergy and power sector of Bangladesh.An in-depth analysis if ever carried outwould evidence what could have hap-pened towards self-reliant energy secu-rity if Bangabandhu could live hisnormal life. But as ill luck would have itvery few in Bangladesh could hold hisvision and dream of creating SonarBangla by exploring and exploiting thebounties of resources. The followingnarration would evidence how

Bangladesh in 2020 is still struggling toachieve long-term sustainable energysecurity.

On yet another August 9 on the auspi-cious year of Bangabandhu’s birth cen-tenary (Mujib Borsho), let us do soulsearching where Bangladesh standsnow as far as achieving Bangabandhu’sdream of achieving self-supportinglong-term energy security? Let us askquestions to ourselves whether wecould stick to the task Bangabandhuwanted us to be for exploring own pri-mary fuel resources (Coal and Petro-leum) and exploit these to the full extentfor the coveted economic developmentof Bangladesh?

Bangabandhu Created BOGMC(Later BOGC & BMDC)The great leader rightly realized that forself-dependent economic development,Bangladesh would need sustainable en-

ergy security. For this,he rightly conceivedthat exploration and ex-ploitation of own en-ergy and mineralresources would be es-sential. He had few vi-sionary advisors at hisdisposal like Dr.Mafizuddin Chowd-hury, Dr. Habibur Rah-man, Dr. F H Khan. Theoil crisis of 1972dawned the vision onhim for disciplined en-deavor in exploringown primary energy re-sources. One of the topgeologist Dr. HabiburRahman was at his dis-posal. Bangabandhusent his young legal ex-pert Dr. Kamal Hossain,the then Minister of Lawand Parliamentary Af-fairs, to Indonesia,Malaysia and Algeria forgaining firsthand knowl-edge as to how PERTA-MINA, PETRONAS andSONARTRACH werestructured. Dr. Kamalwas made Energy Minis-ter. Bangladesh Oil Gas

15

Cover Article

August 1, 2020

Ode to A DreamerSaleque Sufi

and Mineral Resource Company(BOGMC) was created almost with thesimilar vision and mission ofPETRONAS and PERTAMINA. Dr.Habibur Rahman was made Chairmanof BOGMC and concurrently hold theposition of Secretary Energy. He wasalso the advisor of the Prime Minister.The vision of Bangabandhu was thatBOGMC would champion managingexploration, exploitation of oil, gas andmineral resources of Bangladesh. Ownpetroleum resources would providefuel for power, raw materials for fertil-izer, fuel for industries. Own coal andother resources would provide rawmaterials for industries. After a whilemineral resources segment was sepa-rated and BMDC was created andBOGMC became BOGC, which isnow Petrobangla. Bangabandhu in-vited USSR to assist BOGMC with ex-perts and equipment for oil and gasexploration. He also encouragedBOGC sending technical resources toAlgeria and USSR for training.

Bangabandhu also encouraged BMDCengaging German and Indian expertsfor carrying out feasibility studies incoal belt region of greater Dinajpurand Rangpur for coal exploration andhard rock mining.

Bangabandhu also encouraged BOGCworking out model Production SharingContract (PSC) taking leaf from experi-ence of Indonesia. Within a very shortperiod of time, the model PSC couldbe approved, bidding round could beinvited, bid evaluation could be done,PSC could be concluded and 6 topIOCs could be engaged for 6 blocks inthe offshore blocks of the Bay of Ben-gal for oil exploration.

International Oil Companies like ShellBV, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL)were owning and operating some gasfields in Bangladesh before the birth ofBangladesh. Shell discovered fivemajor gas fields (Titas, Habiganj,Bakhrabad, Rashidpur and Koilashtila).Only two of them — Titas and Habiganj— were partially explored and gas mar-ket was very limited. On the other

hand, PPL was first changed to BPL inSylhet and later turned into SGFL ondue course. They were operatingHaripur and Chhatak Gas fields in Syl-het. Bangabandhu through his advisorsand ministers requested Shell to carryout development works of all its dis-covered gas fields and create situationfor sufficient gas supply for power gen-eration and industries.

This writer had the opportunity to at-tend an event in 1973 when Banga-bandhu inaugurated pipeline supply ofgas in old Dhaka by Titas gas in 1973.He said: “This is the land of Sheikh, itmust have plenty of natural resourceshidden underground. I want mygolden son of the soil learning engi-neering and technology, explore andexploit these.” Shell had some stake inTitas gas, Shell was a bit reluctant to re-spond positively to Bangabandhu’sproposal. They were unsure whethertheir investment will achieve requiredrate of return. Bangabandhu expressedhis intention of nationalizing their as-sets like President Sukorno of Indone-sia did after revolution. That madeShell open dialogue with Bangladeshto sell their assets. Initially, they pro-posed to sell all for 10 million poundssterling. But after hectic parleys,Bangabandhu-encouraged energydiplomacy could make possible to buythe entire shell assets in Bangladesh foronly 4.5 million pounds and that toopaid in several installments. The formalhandover document was concludedon August 9, 1975 only 6 days beforehis brutal assassination. Bakhrabad,Rashidpur and Koilashtila were devel-oped later, Titas and Habiganj werefurther developed. These five gas fieldsstill serve about 30% of the total na-tional production.

If one compares Bangabandhu withother subsequent rulers, one finds,Bangabanadhu could manage buyingassets from world’s leading IOC just formere few million pounds. Other rulerslet Occidental develop Petrobangla-owned Jalalabad Gas Field, NIKO de-stroying Tengratila and Chatak gasresources.

Bangabandhu Created BPDBGiving highest priority to power gen-eration and supply, and for better man-agement and operation of the powervalue chain as well as water resourcesdevelopment and flood control,Bangabandhu created BPDB andBWDB through splitting the erstwhileWAPDA. He encouraged Russia,Checkoslavakia, Poland and Germanyto build power plants at Ghorashal,Ashuganj, Shajibazar and Shikalbaha.The success of PDB and WDB owetheir origin to the great person.

Is Bangladesh Following the EnergyVision of Bangabandhu?If asked the above question all willspontaneously reply yes. But if onethinks deeper, it would not be difficultin realizing that how far Bangladeshfrom it. Even the government, led byhis daughter Prime Minister SheikhHasina, has moved away from Banga-bandhu’s energy and power sector vi-sion. Why Bangabandhu had createdBOGMC later BOGC and BMDC? Thepurpose was to explore and exploit toits full potential own petroleum andmineral resources. Could we do that?Could we exploit the discovered coalresources by applying the state-of-the-art modern technology? Could we ex-plore and exploit petroleum resourcesextensively at offshore and onshore?Failing all these, Bangladesh is now ona mission impossible of moving into95% imported fuel dependency. Is thisgoing along the vision of Banga-bandhu?

Chairman and Directors as well ascompanies of BOGMC were compe-tent technocrats during Bangabandhu’stime. Can we compare the presentPetrobangla company managementanywhere near that level? Any kind ofmismanagement and corruption in en-ergy and power sector during Banga-bandhu’s time was next to impossible.But check now thousands of illegal gasconnections exist in gas distribution,mismanagement of gas and energysector are well known.

Thousands of trained professionals of

16August 1, 2020

Petrobangla and its companies left thesector failing to adjust with deteriorat-ing environment and often deprived ofjustice. The situation is such that com-petent persons are not found for seniorpositions. There exists no human re-source development plan, no vision forself-reliance. Petrobangla for manyyears could not even let out freshround of PSC bidding despite of reso-lution of maritime boundary disputesseveral years back. There has been lessthan minimum exploration in the on-shore as well for flawed BAPEX-onlystrategy. Even BAPEX could not de-velop its skills and expertise likePETRONAS or ONGC.

We are sure Bangabandhu will be re-membered on August 9 as usualterming that day as the Energy SecurityDay. But deviating million kilometersaway from his cherished dream, re-membering him is not doing justice.

If Bangladesh really wants to honorBangabandhu dreams and visions ofEnergy sector, it must get back to hischerished dream of making energysector self-reliant through explorationand exploitation of own petroleum andmineral resources.

The role of EMRD and Petrobanglamust be redefined. EMRD as the gov-erning ministry should confine the rolein the formulation of policies andworking as the watchdog for enforce-ment of policies through Petrobangla.The companies of Petrobangla must beallowed to function as autonomous en-

tity as per their articles of association(company acts). The company boardsmust be reorganized with relevant pro-fessionals having past proven trackrecords, reputed academicians andrepresentatives of trade bodies. Thedreams of Bangabhandhu for establish-ing dynamic self-supporting energysector can only be established throughmaking Petrobangla and its companiesrun by technocrats and experts.Petrobangla must have skilled engi-neers, geologists, petroleum econo-mists, petroleum lawyers, miningexperts, chemists and other craftsmen.

The immediate task is to go for explo-ration of discovered coal reserve andutilizing it for power generation. Ofcourse, we have to adopt the most ap-propriate modern technology, caringfor the environmental and social im-pacts management. We have to expe-dite exploration for petroleumresources at onshore frontier areas,conduct deep prospects exploration ofdiscovered gas fields, exploration inthe deep water of Bay of Bengal. Forthese to happen, we must revampPetrobangla and company board of di-rectors engaging experienced, retiredline professionals of proven trackrecords, regularly recruiting freshyoung professionals and develop theirskills through continuous capacity de-velopment. We have to ensure that cit-izens living anywhere of Bangladeshgiven equal and fair treatment as far asgetting access to power supply and en-ergy supply (gas supply). We must

have to care for supplying power andenergy at affordable cost to all.

Petrobangla must reestablish MiningDirectorate for planning and managingdevelopment and operation of mineralresources of Bangladesh through itsmining companies. Bangladesh muststart mining its discovered coal re-sources.

We must realize that only reorganizedPetrobangla and its companies withappropriate professionals (Engineers,Geologists, Chemists and Technical Ex-perts, Economists, Petroleum Account-ants, Petroleum Lawyers, etc) can leadexploration and exploitation of ownmineral and petroleum resources.

The COVID-19 has created an oppor-tunity for soul searching why and howenergy and power sectors have driftedaway from Banglabandhu’s vision. Thepost-COVID recovery program willneed introduction of Artificial Intelli-gence (AI), Automation, GIS-aidedasset management. That is why Banga-bandhu sent only technical resourcesfor training abroad. If only there is au-thentic probe is made how training op-portunity over the past decade iswrongly exploited by the energy andpower sector, that will also exposehow Bangabandhu’s vision was com-promised.

Saleque Sufi;Contributing Editor, EP

17August 1, 2020

EP

Electricity and fuels are one of thekey driving forces of a country’seconomic development and ad-

vancement. With a view to ensuring thecountry’s energy security by upholdingthe national interest, Bangabandhu,through Article 143 of the Constitution,established the state ownership on alldomestic fuel and mineral resources.The country is advancing towards thematerialization of Bangabandhu’sdream aiming to ensure security in elec-tricity and fuel safety. Adequate meas-ures have been undertaken to ensure anuninterrupted supply of fuels alongsidemeeting the increasing fuel demand. At-tempts have been intensified to attractmore local and foreign investments inthe electricity sector. Almost 97 percentof the country’s total population nowhas access to electricity. The electricitysupply capacity is 20,400 megawatt(MW), including domestic productioncapacity of 19,240 MW and import of1,160 MW from India. Some 55 power

plants with a cumulative production ca-pacity of 13,654 MW are under con-struction. With the addition of 500million cubic feet of RLNG from Ma-heshkhali Floating LNG Terminal, thedaily production of gas in the countrynow stands at 3,250 million cubic feet.Four new gas fields (Shrikail, Sundalpur,Rupganj and Bhola north) have beendiscovered. These numbers are nodoubt eye catching, but should we notlook back to see how the things startedduring the nascent stage of the country.

Bangladesh as an independent state in-herited an economy which was severelydamaged by the war. The ravages of thewar were wide. The meagre economicoverheads, transport, communicationsand power system sustained severedamages. The ports were damaged andblocked by ship — wrecks severelyhandicapping import and export trade.The road transport system broke downinto pieces due to destruction of bridges

and culverts. Domestic production wasseriously hampered as a result of theloss of spares and inventories, stoppageof maintenance supply lines, flight ofnon-local managers and the generallyunsettled condition.

The newly born state faced a number ofproblems. The manufacturing sector un-derwent major institutional changes asthe government declared the policy ofstate ownership of major industries andaccordingly nationalized them and tookover management of enterprises aban-doned by their owners. In January 1973,the government announced the Indus-trial Policy laying down the guidelinesgoverning private investment. By theend of 1972-73, the program of recon-struction made substantial headway.

It is in the back ground of these stressesand strain the war-torn economy thatthe first Five Year Plan was formulatedto provide a sense of direction and setan order of priorities for integrated eco-

nomic policies andprograms within amedium term framework.

The plan was formu-lated with the follow-ing objectives:(a) Rehabilitation andreconstruction of thewar-torn economy;

(b) Increase of GDP by5.5 percent annuallyover the planning pe-riod for an annual in-crease of 2.5 percent inthe per capita income;

(c) Creation of employ-ment opportunities;

(d) Reduction in the de-pendence on foreign

19

Special Article

August 1, 2020

Bangabandhu & Energy Sector Planningin Bangladesh

Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain

Maheshkhali Floating LNG Terminal

aid over timethrough expan-sion of exportsand substitutionof imports;

(e) Transforma-tion of the insti-tutional andtechnologicalbase of agricul-ture with a viewto attaining self-sufficiency infood grains;

(f) Arresting therising trend inthe generalprice level,achieving stabi-lization and effecting reversal of the ris-ing trend of prices of essentialcommodities;

(g) Reduction in population growth;

(h) A more equitable distribution of in-come and employment to ensure bettersocial justice.

The plan envisaged a total developmentoutlay of Tk 4,455 crore at 1972-73prices of which Tk 3,952 crore was ear-marked for the public sector and the re-maining Tk 503 crore for the privatesector. The plan was prepared withinone and a half years of liberation ofBangladesh when a new governmentwas in its early stage of formation andyet beset with stupendous economicand social problems. Besides institu-tional limitations, the plan was seriouslyhandicapped by the inadequacy of sta-tistical information. Above all the plangot off to a difficult start due to globalinflation and depression in the leadingworld economies which made aidprospect gloomier. The plan simplycould not operate under these circum-stances and after two years of difficultexperiences, it was recast and a hardcore program covering the remainingthree years of the plan was prepared tofit in the new global condition.

On the eve of launching the First FiveYear Plan for Bangladesh, Sheikh Mu-jibur Rahman as the Prime Minister ofthe government of the Peoples Republic

of Bangladesh and Chairman, PlanningCommission forwarded the followingmessage:

“The planning commission of the gov-ernment of the Peoples Republic ofBangladesh has prepared a plan for re-construction and development of theeconomy taking into account the in-escapable political, social and eco-nomic realities of Bangladesh. The planhas charted a course for the nation forthe coming five years.

“It is unusual for a country to prepare aFive-Year National Development Planwithin such a short time. In the case ofBangladesh, it is specially so becausethere was no planning machinery in thecountry at the time of liberation norcomprehensive and reliable data on allaspects of the economy. These mayhave left some gaps in the plan. Never-theless, it was decided to launch theFive-Year Plan at an early date becausethe government felt the urgent need toprovide a sense of direction and deter-mine the order of priorities within theframe work of which coherent and con-sistent policies and programs could beformulated.

“No plan however well-formulated, canbe implemented unless there is totalcommitment on the part of the peopleof the country to work hard and makenecessary sacrifices. All of us will, there-fore, have to dedicate ourselves to the

task of nationbuilding withsingle - mindeddetermination. Iam confidentthat our peoplewill devotethemselves tothis task with asmuch courageand vigor asthey demon-strated duringthe war of liber-ation.”

Bangabandhuhad a god giftedvision withwhich he man-aged to assem-

ble all the gems of persons available inthe country in different fields and set upa Planning Commission headed by him-self wherein top economists, bureau-crats, engineers and highly educatedand trained professionals from differentfields enthusiastically joined together toprepare the plan. The plan covered themajor economic and social fields of thecountry and needless to mention thatpower, energy and mineral resourcessectors formed an integral part of theplan. In the plan, various policy optionswere outlined which proved to be veryuseful for the growth of different sectorsin the country.

In the power sector the policies for planimplementation were described as: (i) Re-organization of the power sectorimplementing and regulating agencies;

(a) Power Development Board shouldbe reorganized for efficient manage-ment. Generation and transmissionfunctions should be separated from thedistribution at members’ level as a firststep to be followed by further studies fortheir decentralization, functional as wellas regional;

(b) The Electricity Regulatory Agencyshould be reorganized and properlymanned with qualified personnel;

(ii) Power tariff should be rationalizedand a Power Commission should be es-tablished covering the whole of the

20August 1, 2020

Compressor Stations, installed at Ashuganj & Elenga

energy sector;

(iii) Indigenous manufacturing capacityshould be further developed for the pro-duction of basic electrical equipmentand accessories; and

(iv) Accounting system and proceduresas well as inventory managementshould be improved and stream linedand financial discipline should bestrictly enforced.

Policy recommendations for the min-eral-based industries outlined that avail-ability of foreign exchange for thecement and mining projects has beenthe main constraint in developing thissector under first plan. But indicationsfor foreign aid was promising. In view ofundertaking the Jaipurhat lime stonemining and cement works project re-cruitment and training of mining per-sonnel should be given priority by theMinistry of Petroleum and Mineral Re-sources since there is dearth of peoplein Bangladesh to work underground.

In the oil and gas sector, the recom-mended policy consideration referredthat:

Resources constraint posed one of thegreatest problems particularly in the firstcouple of years. The unprecedented in-flationary pressure further aggravatedthe situation. Most of the projects be-longing to natural resources sector areheavily dependent on imported equip-ment and materials for their implemen-tations delay in lining up externalfinancing caused delay in implementa-tion.

Immediately after the liberation, institu-tional problems were also greatly re-sponsible for unsatisfactory planningand project implementation. Natural re-sources development being the respon-sibility of the then central governmentbefore liberation, the local offices,mostly ill-equipped and understaffed,had to be reorganized to make themequal to the task in carrying out na-tional; responsibility in matters of plan-ning and project implementation. Newcorporation concept likeBMOGC/BOGC, BMEDC, OGDC,Petrobangla, Petroleum Corporation to-

gether with their subsidiaries had to becarefully examined as to their functionsand responsibilities.

The oil and gas exploration activities inthe past greatly depended on the serv-ices of foreign experts and lack oftrained manpower posed problems forefficient implementations of projects.

The machinery for collection of infor-mation and basic statistics necessary forplanning and implementation of devel-opment project also remained weak asa whole. The objectives of the plan foroil and gas sector were set as: (i) To accelerate systematic surface andsub-surface investigation mapping andcompilation of basic data on the geol-ogy of the country;

(ii) To accelerate exploration for oil andgas in the most promising areas to makeBangladesh self-sufficient in energy;

(iii) To remove the imbalance betweenthe gas discovered so far and its trans-mission and distribution facilities to re-duce import bill for fuel;

(iv) To ensure economic use of the sur-plus product waste of refinery;

(v) To evolve an equitable pricing sys-tem for all types of energy and fuel forthe country as a whole to help acceler-ate economic development of less de-veloped areas;

(vi) To impart training to improve tech-nical capabilities of the professional andother categories of employees in orderto attain technological self-reliance; and

(vii) To undertake research and studiesto identify projects for the Second FiveYear Plan.

With reference to the institutional poli-cies and facilities, it was mentionedamong others that the corporationsshould be placed under the Ministry ofNR and STR and AE and the Chairmanof the corporation should be directly re-sponsible to the minister. Another im-portant guideline was in respect ofconcession policies which stated:

(i) Formulation and enforcement of therules and regulation for petroleum andmineral concession, pricing and conser-vation shall be within this category.

These activities will be vested on thenatural resources division of the Min-istry of NR and STR and AE.

(ii) It is recognized that any petroleum,gas or mineral which may exist in itsnatural state underground is the prop-erty of the state. Bangladesh will, there-fore, have to decide upon the manner inwhich the search for and developmentof these resources within its territoryshall be conducted. To the extent thatconcession will be awarded to foreignprospectors, Terms will have to be for-mulated which protect the nation’s in-terests both now and in the futurewithout frightening away prospectors.

Parallel with the national planning onthe energy sector, Bangabandhu tookspecial interest in buying back the ShellOil share in the gas fields’ assets inBangladesh under negotiated conditionswhich was a tremendous success con-sidering the contemporary internationalpractices prevailing in the energy busi-ness world over. Similarly, his toweringpersonalities convinced the Interna-tional Oil Companies to pay attention tothe oil and gas exploration inBangladesh specially in the offshore re-gion during the initial stage of emergingthe country. It must be mentioned thatBangabandhu frequently referred to themineral rich parts of the country andasked for initiating development work ofcoal, lime stone, peat, hard rock andbeach sand minerals in the country.

It will be seen that the vision of Banga-bandhu was instrumental in strengthen-ing the base of the institutionaldevelopments of the energy sector insti-tutions which later helped in acceler-ated implementation of thedevelopment projects in the power, en-ergy and mineral resources domain. Allachievements in the power and energysector that are manifested now owe tothe planning process initiated by Banga-bandhu during the First Five Year Planthat is paying the dividends now.

Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain;Former Chairman, Petrobangla

21August 1, 2020

EP

Without meaningful industrial-ization, the dream forBangladesh to become a

true, middle income country will re-main elusive. To attain that status, thegovernment has made notable strides ininfrastructure development. Our mainpitching points to attract the billions ofdollars in FDI needed to propel thecountry’s infrastructure have seen move-ment towards setting up special eco-nomic zones, transportation networksand speeding up power generation. Ourtwo main selling points have been theavailability of a large pool of trainableand affordable labor, and, cheap energy.

We love to talk about the abundance ofour labor. We seldom touch on the issueof productivity and efficiency. Oncethose coal-fired power plants are up andrunning, every power company willhave to have a pool of highly trainedand skilled manpower involved in theentire supply chain (import of coal —transportation — handling of coal fromport to power plant). That pool of skilledlabor does not exist today. Our educa-tional institutions including universitiesare unfortunately have fallen behindand unable to match the skillsets thatwill be required by this pool of man-power in the not too distant future. Casein point example isour vibrant textileand apparel indus-try which is largelyrun by a pool ofhundreds of thou-sands of foreigntechnicians. So, un-less policymakersstart making in-roads into upgrad-ing the technicaleducation that willbe adequate tomeet needs of in-dustry, these plantsbeing built by for-eign contractors

will have to be manned and operatedby foreign experts — the cost of whichwill be an added burden to the cost ofpower produced — an unfeasible situa-tion.

On the question of cheap abundant en-ergy, there is bad news on both fronts.Unfortunately, our energy is no longercheap. On top of that, energy sectorplanning has been hamstrung by a lackof serious exploration of own gas re-sources, both onshore and offshore, andno move to extract own coal deposits.Policymakers have undertaken majorprojects to meet power generation pro-gressively for 2021, 2030 and 2041.The vision states that some 60,000megawatts (MW) power generation ca-pacity by 2041, where coal-fired powerplants will produce 22,000MW. Andthis power is to be produced with “im-ported” coal. Let us look at some basicfacts. The government will have to im-port approximately 66 million tonnes ofcoal annually to generate 22,000MW.

In a country where we have the unfor-tunate experience of some 140,000tonnes of coal disappearing from Bara-pukuria coal mine, precisely how arewe going to tackle and keep track ofmillions of tonnes of coal being im-ported? While there are plans to setting

up a coastal corridor and using riverroutes to transport coal to power plants,how feasible is that plan in reality?Given that if a single vessel sinking in ashallow river holds up traffic for days onend, what contingency plan do we haveto deal with the chaos of hundreds ofcoal-laden vehicles crisscrossing ourrivers to keep coal plants up and run-ning? The time has come to introspectand do what is feasible.

The experiment with LNG has not givenus “affordable” energy. The price of im-ported LNG is three to four times that ofnatural gas produced in the country. So,as we dilly-dally with drilling explo-ration wells for natural gas, the energyneeds of the country is going lopsided.The LNG, even if it is USD 8.0 per mil-lion standard cubic feet (MSCF), willcost the national exchequer aroundUSD 3.0 billion for 1,000 MMCFD. Canwe afford that sort of import bill? Weshould not forget that the present (ap-parently attractive LNG price) will notremain at this level forever. Once thepetroleum product market shoots up (itis inevitable), how are we to deal withthe balance of payments? Are we readyto indefinitely provide subsidies for bothprimary and electric energy? And whatwill be the price of gas when this expen-sive imported fuel joins the fuel mix? Allthese questions lead us to the funda-mental question as to why Bangladeshis not extracting its own coal reserves?

For years the open pit mining of coal de-posits has been a festering political

issue. The reality isthat without openpit mining, therewill be a very littleoption of attractingFDI in the area asthe major coal fieldin Phulbari-Bara-pukuria area (com-prising of nearly abillion tonne goodquality coal re-serve) is technicallyand financially fea-sible to mine onlywith open pit min-ing method. Canwe afford to avoid

23

Article

August 1, 2020

Quest for National Energy SecuritySyed Mansur Hashim

Barapukuria coal mine

extracting own coal? The problems as-sociated with import of coal is alreadystated. The physical transportation ofmillions of tonnes of coal via waterwaysis a technical challenge far beyond ourcapacity to meet. The cost factor willalso be exorbitant. But most importantly,why are we betting our horses on an im-port-based policy of raw materials forenergy generation? This policy is fraughtwith political challenges. What happensif there is breach of contract by export-ing companies and we are left high anddry of coal supplies? Are our plants tosit idle? Can we afford to not producefor a single day? This is a pipe dreamand a recipe for disaster. We should notforget the coal fired power plants’ ca-pacity under construction and those thatare in the pipeline and their respectiveneed for uninterrupted coal supply. Inaddition, the idling cost (capacitycharge) burdens that the country willhave to bear in case of supply interrup-tions of coal for the power plants.

It is high time we set aside our misgiv-ings about the development of our ownproven coal deposits. We cannot affordto delay the decision for anotherdecade. Because the deposits of our pri-mary energy source (natural gas) havealready fallen to dangerously low levelshovering around 8.0 TCF (trillion cubicfeet). And we cannot afford to import ei-ther coal or LNG which will entail bil-lions of dollars every year in importbills. These matters are not lost upon po-tential foreign investors. Foreign in-

vestors will judge the cost of doing busi-ness and payback period for investmentvery seriously before putting in a singledollar into our economy.

They will judge the timely delivery ofservices, including energy. And if wecannot ensure quality power and energyat a cost that is deemed to be cost-effec-tive, all the national plans and visions

for the future will be laid to waste. Theunfortunate reality is that more than adecade has been wasted on the coalissue and there is no more time. Thecoal plants are being built and we haveto move beyond the utopia of importedcoal. The LNG-import experience aloneshould be enough to wake up policy-makers about what sort of headache thecountry is headed towards when mil-lions of tonnes of coal will have to betackled.

Of all the coal mines in the country,Phulbari is the only field ready to bemined seriously. This is where investorsare willing to invest. Work on all otherfields should be started simultaneously.It is the lack of a political decision thathas hindered progress on coal develop-ment and exploration, and it is time tocorrect the historic mistake of not goingfor own coal a decade ago.

Syed Mansur Hashim;Deputy Editor, EP

24August 1, 2020

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The government has selected 65 in-dustrial hubs across the country to

provide uninterrupted and quality elec-tricity supply as well as to help boosttheir overall output and the country'soverall economic growth.

The state-run Power Cell surveyed outthe hubs, where the total electricity de-mand is around 2,820 megawatts (MW).

Thirty two of these industrial hubs arelocated around Dhaka city, where theelectricity demand is around 1,289 MW.

The government mulls to divide these32 industrial hubs into five industrialclusters to facilitate smooth electricitysupply in industries around Dhaka city.

Among the industrial clusters, the gov-ernment has planned to select Gazipurindustrial cluster as a pilot one to collectelectricity-related data elaborately,

which include overall demand and con-sumption, overloaded transformers, andnumber of captive power plants etc.

These were revealed during a recentmeeting to develop strategy for applica-tion of 'Big Data Analysis and SampleSurvey' for improving quality of powersupply to the industrial clusters aroundDhaka city.

Bangladesh Energy and Power ResearchCouncil (BEPRC) organised the function.Prime Minister's adviser on energy is-sues Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury wasthe chief guest in it, while power secre-tary Dr Sultan Ahmad was the specialguest.

The government has long been workingto ensure uninterrupted and qualityelectricity supply across the country,said Mr Chowdhury.

65 Industrial Hubs to Get QualityElectricity Supply

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Coal power has noplace in a post-

coronavirus economicrecovery plan, the UNchief said recently in aspeech broadcast inChina, which has re-portedly stepped upproduction of the pol-luting energy source.

“There is no such thingas clean coal, and coalshould have no place inany rational recoveryplan,” Antonio Guterressaid, in a video addresstelevised at Beijing’s TsinghuaUniversity.

“We need to stop wastingmoney on fossil fuel subsidiesand the funding of coal,” hesaid.

Countries around the worldare devising massive eco-nomic revival plans after the

COVID-19 pandemic, whichfirst emerged in China latelast year, paralyzed the globaleconomy.

China, the world’s biggestpolluter and a signatory ofthe Paris climate agreement,has invested heavily in re-newable energy.

UN Chief Tells China Coal Has NoPlace in Post-COVID Recovery

Chevron Corp said re-cently it would buy

Noble Energy Inc in a $5 bil-lion all-stock deal, bolsteringits shale presence as a plungein crude prices have madeassets cheaper.

The deal, the largest in theUS energy sector this year,comes more than a year afterChevron abandoned its offerfor Anadarko PetroleumCorp, outmaneuvered by Oc-cidental Petroleum Corp's

higher bid.

Oil prices plunged to historiclows in April as the coron-avirus crisis decimated de-mand. While prices haverecovered from their lows,they remain depressed, mak-ing assets cheaper, as a newsurge of COVID-19 casesthreaten to stall recovery.

"Chevron (is) taking advan-tage of its strong relative per-formance versus the USexploration and productioncompanies and capitalizingon the downturn to buy intosome high quality assets,"said Anish Kapadia, head ofLondon-based independentoil and mining advisoryPalissy Advisors.

Chevron Picks Noble in BiggestUS Energy Deal Since Oil Crash

The Power Division underthe Ministry of Power, En-

ergy and Mineral Resources,or MPEMR, has implemented94.40 per cent of projectwork under the Annual De-velopment Program, or ADP,in the last fiscal year, 2019-20.

A total of Tk 246.26 billionwas allocated to implement atotal of 104 power sectorprojects during the previousfiscal.

This was disclosed at an eval-uation meeting on the powersector projects of the last fis-cal recently.

Speaking at the virtual meet-ing, state minister for Power,Energy and Mineral Re-sources Nasrul Hamid ex-pressed satisfaction at the

implementation of the proj-ects considering the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the remaining workcould be done by Decembernext.

Mr Hamid also expressed thehope that the Power Divisionwill be able to implement100 per cent of project workin the current FY 2020-21and sought all out coopera-tion from the employees ofthe power sector entities inthis connection.

A total of 87 projects gotlisted for allocation in thecurrent ADP, of which 34 arehigh-priority ones, 26medium-priority and 27 arelow-priority projects as perthe Ministry of Finance.

Power Division Implements 94pcProject Work Under ADP

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Sylhet Gas Fields Limited(SGFL) plans to develop

Tengratila gas field that hadbeen severely damaged aftertwo fire incidents back in2005.

“We’ve a plan to develop thegas field through state-ownedBangladesh Petroleum Explo-ration Company Limited(BAPEX) if the ministry wantsus to go ahead with it,” saidan official at SGFCL.

He added the company wasworking to prepare a develop

p r o j e c tproforma( D P P )after get-

ting the minister’s approval.

The company thinks the in-ternational court will settle allthe pending issues in this re-gard.

In a Demi Official (DO) letterto State Minister for Powerand Energy Nasrul Hamid re-cently, SGFL said, “SGFL isthe original owner of the Ten-gratila Gas Field.”

“Sylhet Gas Fields wants itsproperty back which is nor-mal. It will raise the issue at

the next board meet-ing,” said the official.“SGFL is very opti-mistic and hopefulthat it will get the op-eration rights from thegovernment,” headded.

Move to Revive TengratilaGas Field

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Emirates National Oil Com-pany, or ENOC, has sub-

mitted the best bid to supplythe initial con-signments ofcleaner marinefuel toBangladesh.

S t a t e - r u nBangladesh Petro-leum Corporation,or BPC, receiveda total of four bidsfrom global firmson close of the bidsubmission deadline recently.

The BPC has a plan to start im-porting cleaner marine fuel

with 0.5per cents u l f u rfrom this

month instead of 180 CSThigh sulfur fuel oil with 3.5per cent sulfur as per the

guideline of theI n t e r n a t i o n a lMaritime Organi-zation, or IMO,on cleaner envi-ronment.

The ENOC hasoffered to supplycleaner marinefuel at a premiumrate of US$37per tonne, while

others offered as high as $50per tonne, a senior BPC offi-cial said.

ENOC Submits Best Bid toSupply Marine Fuel

The Bangladesh PetroleumCorporation (BPC) de-

ferred two thirds of its importcargoes in July as an attemptto arrange private tanks tostore oil went 'abortive'.

It will import only four oilcargoes this month instead ofthe 12 scheduled ones, BPCofficials said.

Despite repeated attempts toensure oil storage facility

from the private sector overthe past four months, the BPCcould not ensure a single fa-cility to date, insiders said.

Four private companies-United Group, Super Petro-chemical, SA Corporationand TK Group-showed inter-est to store BPC's petroleumproducts in their facilities ona rental basis.

But the state-run corporationcould notuse theirtank stor-age facili-ties as theywere notready forstorage asper interna-tional stan-dard.

BPC Defers Oil Cargoes in July

Bangladesh PetroleumCorporation (BPC) has

slapped a ban on entry ofsubstandard petroleum prod-ucts from most of the privatesuppliers into the market, aBPC top official has said.

“We are notcompromisingwith the qualityof petroleumproducts. So,the govern-ment has sus-pended supplyof condensate,a raw materialof fuel, to 12 private conden-sate fractionation plants,” hesaid.

He said BPC has tested oc-tane and petrol supplied fromdifferent private plants beforesuspension of the supply of

raw materials to theprivate fractiona-tion plants.

“The octane shouldcontain more than 95 percentoctane molecules or Re-search Octane Number(RON) and it should be 87percent for petrol to ensuretheir maximum quality,” headded.

But the 12 pri-vate fractiona-tion plantssupply petrolwith below 87percent RON,which is dan-gerous for auto-mobiles, he

pointed out.

Official sources say only twoprivate plants installed cat-alytic reformer unit (CRU) toget best output of octane andpetrol as per BSTI require-ment.

BPC Imposes Ban onSubstandard Fuel

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Speakers at a seminar re-cently urged the government

to scrap the speedy energy sup-ply law — officially known asthe Quick Enhancement ofElectricity and Energy Supply(Special Provision) Act, 2010 —terming it "unconstitutional".

They also called upon thegovernment to cancel all thecoal- and gas-fired rental andquick rental power plants andcoal-fired power plant proj-ects immediately.

They were addressing a virtualseminar titled "Challenges ofEnergy Sector Immunity inBangladesh", jointly organizedby Bangladesh WorkingGroup on External Debt andSchool of People's Law.

Eminent environmentalistSyeda Rizwana Hasan, chiefexecutive of Bangladesh Envi-ronmental Lawyers Associa-tion, criticized thegovernment's plan to build 29coal-fired power plants with-out formulating a coal policy.

"In the last 14-15 years, a

number of coal policies weredrafted, but none was final-ized. How come the govern-ment went on building 29plants without even finalizinga policy?"

Rizwana also criticized thegovernment's intolerance toopposition voices.

"In the past, people couldprotest the open-pit coal min-ing and power plants. Butnow, even 200 people cannotgather and protest a powerplant. They will be beaten upby police. There is no excep-tion of it even in the case ofthe university professors," saidRizwana.

The speedy power supply lawwas enacted in 2010 for twoyears. The law was first ex-tended by two years until 2014and by four years until 2018. In2018, it was extended for thethird time until 2021.

Supreme Court lawyer BarristerJyotirmoy Barua presented thekeynote paper at the discussion.

Thrust on Scrapping SpeedyEnergy Supply Law

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The executive board ofMAN Energy Solutions is

launching a comprehensiveprogram to ensure the futureviability of the company.

Extensive cost-cutting and re-structuring measures are thenecessary next steps on theway to the company’s trans-formation into a solutionsprovider for sustainable en-ergy supply.

In addition, the company ispreparing for a prolonged pe-riod of stagnant sales as a re-sult of the Covid-19pandemic.

To achieve this, the companyplans to cut its costs by 450million euros and increase itsoperational flexibility, amongother objectives. The aim is toachieve an operating marginof 9% and improve the com-pany’s cash and liquidity posi-tion by 2023, even taking the

global economic impact ofCOVID-19 into account.5Adapting and optimizing theproduction network with afocus on core value creationand greater flexibility is a keycomponent of the program.

In this context, the companyintends to halt steam turbineproduction in Hamburg and isalso considering closing theproduction facility in Berlinand relocating productioncurrently conducted there toanother site.

The program will also focuson reducing the cost of mate-rials and equipment, optimiz-ing the service network,streamlining the productrange, cutting costs within thegroup functions, and focusingresearch and development onnext-generation technologies.

MAN Energy Solutions LaunchesProgram for the Future

Pilot LNG LLC has filed reg-ulatory applications for its

proposed Galveston LNGBunker Port project, the com-pany reported recently.

The facility would feature afloating liquefaction plant andprovide LNG marine fuel tovessels to the Texas ports ofHouston, Texas City andGalveston, Pilot LNG noted ina written statement emailed toRigzone. The company hasproposed developing the ter-minal on Pelican Island, be-

tween Galve-ston and TexasCity.

“Pilot LNG’sGalveston LNG Bunker Portwill provide clean-burningLNG to one of the U.S.’slargest port complexes,” re-marked Jonathan Cook, PilotLNG’s chief executive. “Theproposed Galveston LNGBunker Port would providethe necessary infrastructure tosupply the growing market forLNG marine fuel, substantiallyreducing marine emissionsand cutting shippers’ fuel costsat the same time.”

LNG Port Proposed forHouston Area

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Trading houses Marubeni,Sumitomo Corp. and Mit-

sui & Co. will build a liquefiednatural gas-fired power plantin Myanmar, one of thebiggest investments by Japan-ese companies in the South-east Asian country, peoplefamiliar with the matter say.

The three companies estimatetotal investment in the projectat $1.5 billion to $2 billion.The plant is expected to startoperating by 2025 with a ca-pacity equal to about 20% ofMyanmar's existing powerplants.

The project marks a win forJapan in a region where Chinahas competed hard for infra-structure deals.

Demand for LNG power is ex-

pected to grow in SoutheastAsia as a low-emission alter-native to cheap coal.Marubeni, Sumitomo and Mit-sui expect the project inMyanmar to help them ex-pand their power businessesin the region.

In Myanmar, electricity de-mand has been growing at arate of 10% to 20% a yearwith industrialization and theelectrification of farming vil-lages. Frequent power outageshave posed an obstacle to thecountry's goal of attracting for-eign investment in manufac-turing.

The plant will be built in asuburb of Yangon, Myanmar'scommercial capital and mostpopulous city. The three com-panies will operate it through

a joint venturethey will es-tablish withEden Group, alocal con-g l o m e r a t ewhose busi-nesses includereal estate andagriculture.

Japan Marubeni Wins Deal for $2bnMyanmar LNG Power Plant

The slow progress in Indo-Bangla power project in

southwestern Rampal threat-ens to undermine the govern-ment's "fast-track" initiative,people familiar with the situ-ation said.

The controversial 1,320-megawatt thermal powerplant near the Sundarbanshas been struggling with im-plementation delays as only50 per cent physical workcould be completed so far,they said.

The construction of the Tk160 billion-plant was sup-posed to be completed byJune 2020.

People involved with theproject doubted theBangladesh-India Friendship

Power Company Limited, theproject-executing company,will be able to complete thecoal-fired plant even by De-cember this year, the newschedule.

A senior company officialsaid that it would not be pos-sible to complete the work byDecember next as there weredelays in the past due to fundmobilization complexities.

"Besides, the coronavirus hasdelayed the constructionwork for the last few months.Now, it will be difficult tocomplete the work within thestipulated time," he said re-questing anonymity.

The official said the powerplant could be commis-sioned in 2022.

Rampal Project in Slow Lane

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Power sector planners as-sumed that locking in coal

would lead to a least-cost sys-tem. A mistaken “lock-in” offossil fuels, mainly coal, as thesource of power generation inSoutheast Asia has led to en-ergy instability, high prices,and high levels of subsidy, ac-cording to a presentation bythe Institute of Energy Econom-ics and Financial Analysis(IEEFA).

The culprit for the high pricesis the capacity fee, a minimumpayment to ensure that the in-vestor of the coal plant recov-ers their investment, which istypically a 14-15% internalrate of return (IRR), explainedIEEFA’s energy finance analystSara Jane Ahmed.

Because of this, even if de-mand drops, consumers orgovernments still need to pay aminimum payment, leading toa higher per unit price of elec-tricity. This either burdens theend user in the case for thePhilippines, or the taxpayerthrough more government sub-sidies, which is the case for In-

donesia and Vietnam.

In response to this, the forcemajeure clause in these agree-ments has triggered negotia-tions with coal powerproviders in order to protectgovernment and consumersfrom inflexible standardclauses of the power purchaseagreements.

“However, even with force ma-jeure clauses, when competi-tion from cheaper alternativesenter the market, the questionis whether end users or taxpay-ers will be okay to pay for fossilfuel lock in... and will they bewilling to pay this high cost forfossil fuels amidst cheaper do-mestically resource optionssuch as renewable energy,”Ahmed added.

The lack of flexibility is blamedon old regulatory incentives.“Power sector planners as-sumed that a large system lock-in such as coal would lead to aleast-cost system. But unfortu-nately, this lock-in for countrieshas led to inflexibility, price in-stability and high prices or highsubsidies,” Ahmed said.

Fossil Fuel Lock-in Worsens ElectricityPrices for Southeast Asia

Future deepwater gas pro-duction offshore India could

be impacted by low spot LNGprices, according to WoodMackenzie.

Although deepwater develop-ments are expected to driveIndia’s gas production growth— adding more than 1 bcf/d ofnew supplies by 2023 — only15%, or 200 MMcf/d, has beencontracted currently, the con-sultant said.

With local market demand af-fected by COVID-19, and withlow spot LNG prices likely topersist at least through 2022,full commercialization of

deepwater discoveries may beat risk.

Wood Mackenzie principal an-alyst Alay Patel said: “Gas fromthe deepwater fields will besold in Andhra Pradesh andthe much larger Gujarat/Maha-rashtra where it will competeagainst spot LNG directly.

“The critical period for produc-ers will be the 2020/2021 pe-riod when spot prices are set toremain low. We estimate thataround 35% of uncontractedvolumes in 2022 are at ahigher risk of being replacedby spot LNG.”

LNG Spot Prices May Slow DeepwaterGas Activity Offshore India

Over 200 Japanese privatesector participants have

joined a webinar organizedby Bangladesh to attractJapanese investments.

The ‘Dialogue to Drive Japan-ese Investments inBangladesh’ was jointly or-ganized by the Prime Minis-ter’s Office, the InternationalFinance Corporation (IFC) andJapan International Coopera-tion Agency (JICA) recently,said a press release.

The advantages and facilitiesavailable in Bangladesh werehighlighted by top policymak-ers and Japanese businesses.

Japan’s Sumitomo Corpora-tion, Marubeni Corporationand Honda have actively par-ticipated in the outreach ef-fort.

Prime Minister’s Private Indus-try and Investment AdviserSalman Fazlur Rahman deliv-ered the welcome speechwhile Principal Coordinator(SDG Affairs) of Prime Minis-

ter’s Office Zeuna Aziz,Japanese Ambassador toBangladesh Ito Naoki, BIDAExecutive Chairman Md. Sir-azul Islam and BEZA Execu-tive Chairman PabanChowdhury, among others,spoke on the occasion.

Salman F Rahman said thestrength and stability ofBangladesh’s economy andpolitical leadership is un-doubted.

Country Manager of IFCWendy Werner and ChiefRepresentative of JICABangladesh Hayakawa Yuhojoined the dialogue and dis-cussed the initiatives to sup-port private sector inBangladesh.

Besides, the Japanese compa-nies and leading conglomer-ates, representatives of Japan’sMinistry of Economy, Tradeand Industry, Ministry of Fi-nance, Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs were also present.

200 Japanese Join BangladeshWebinar to Drive Investment

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ConocoPhillips reportedrecently that it has

agreed to acquire acreage inthe Montney formation inWestern Canada from KeltExploration Ltd.

Under the terms of deal,ConocoPhillips will pay Keltapproximately $375 millionbefore customary adjust-ments and assume approxi-mately $30 million infinancing obligations for as-sociated partially owned in-frastructure.

In return, ConocoPhillipsnoted in a written statementthat it will add 140,000 net

acres in the liquids-rich Inga-Fireweed asset Montneyzone directly adjacent to itsexisting Montney position.

“We have tracked and ana-lyzed this adjacent acreageposition for a long time,” re-marked Matt Fox, executivevice president and chief op-erating officer with Cono-coPhillips.

“It represents a high-value ex-tension of our existing Mont-ney position, and we’repleased to capture this oppor-tunity at an attractive cost ofsupply that meets our criteriafor resource additions.”

ConocoPhillips to Add CanadaAcreage in $375MM Deal

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31August 1, 2020

At first sight, it looks like an ordi-nary lamppost. But what sepa-rates it from the rest is that it,

apart from lighting the area, offers high-speed telecommunications connectivityand Wi-Fi service, facilitates waste man-agement, gives real-time air quality dataand serves as digital signage for thecommunity.

Close-circuit cameras can also be in-stalled on it, beefing up security surveil-lance. The pole shows how a smart citywould look like as Dhaka aspires to be-come one.

Embarking on making Dhaka a smartcity is not just a reverie because multi-purpose poles have already been set upunder a joint initiative of several tele-com companies and the Dhaka NorthCity Corporation (DNCC).

Edotco Bangladesh, an integratedtelecommunications infrastructure serv-ices company, has deployed two suchpoles in Dhaka — one in Banani and an-other in Gulshan-2 DCC market.

"I am committed to converting Dhakainto a smart city and we are excited to

be able to deploy smart city solutionslike this for the first time, giving our peo-ple a new and improved platform for so-cial and civil services," said DNCCMayor Md Atiqul Islam while inaugurat-ing the initiative during a virtual pro-gram recently.

"This will not only provide excellentconnectivity but also improved qualityof life. This is an ideal example of PPP."

The smart lamp pole is the result of apublic-private partnership (PPP) aimedat developing smart city features on apilot basis. If the piloting succeeds, morethan 200 such solutions will be put upin the DNCC area.

This would allow smartphone users touse free Wi-Fi for 20 minutes with eightmegabytes per second download speedwithin 40 to 50 meters radius of thepole. If a user wants to consume moredata, they can purchase additional timeslots from internet service providerSheba using mobile balance.

An internet of things device installed onthe 36-feet tower will give informationabout the filing status of the smart bins

located within a 100-metre radius of thepole to the DNCC monitoring center,saying whether they are full or not.

If required, the city corporation will col-lect the bins or replace them with freshones.

Mobile carrier Robi established its net-work on both the towers, enhancingservice quality in the area.

The deployment of the multipurposesmart lamp pole has brought multipleplayers from the ecosystem together toprovide uninterrupted connectivity tothe citizens.

The arrangement allows the tower com-pany to sell its tower space to mobilephone operators using the DNCC'sspare or unused spaces. In return, citi-zens get free services such as free Wi-Fi,light, air quality report, awareness mes-sages and smart bin, according to themayor.

"While we focus on ensuring continu-ous, stable and fast connectivity for allthe citizens, we are also committed toenabling the nation's 5G readiness byintroducing next-generation solutionssuch as smart city solutions," RickySteyn, managing director of edotcoBangladesh said.

The company currently owns and oper-ates more than 10,000 telecom towersacross the country and is developingtowers that are power-efficient, eco-friendly and are not harmful.

Md Jahurul Haque, chairman of theBangladesh Telecommunication Regula-tory Commission; Muhammed ZafarIqbal, professor of computer scienceand engineering at Shahjalal Universityof Science and Technology, and MahtabUddin Ahmed, chief executive officer ofRobi, attended the virtual event.

Smart Lampposts in The Limelight

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33August 1, 2020

Infrastructure Development CompanyLimited (IDCOL) has financed the first

Rooftop Solar project of FORTIS Group.The 428.22 kWp project will be imple-mented on the rooftop of K A DesignLtd, a RMG manufacturing concern ofFORTIS Group, located at Boro Beraid,Badda, Dhaka.

The rooftop solar project is a part of theon-going green initiatives of FORTISgroup to use more environment friendlytechnology and become less dependenton grid electricity by using renewableenergy sources.

Electricity produced from this projectwill not only reduce electricity bills of KA Design Ltd., but also reduce the dieselconsumption during load shedding. Inaddition, the project owners can exportunutilized electricity generated from theproject to national grid through Net Me-tering Guideline 2018. Currently theunit cost of electricity from rooftop solarfalls around BDT 7 and this makes theinvestment very lucrative.

The project will be implemented with atotal project cost of BDT 2.99 crore.Under the facility agreement, IDCOL isproviding concessional loan of BDT2.39 crore. IDCOL has completed thefirst disbursement of the loan amount forthe project and the project is expectedto be completed very soon.

IDCOL has also approved financing fortwo other Rooftop Solar projects forFORTIS Group, which are Habitus Fash-ions Ltd. and Sarah Resort Ltd, havingcapacity of 617 kWp and 340 kWp re-spectively.

IDCOL plans to finance 300 MW ofelectricity from solar rooftop by 2022.

FORTIS GroupInitiates GreenEnergy ProjectsFunded by IDCOL

Lack of international accreditation forlocal testing laboratories has put the

country’s solar module manufacturersinto big trouble in exporting their prod-ucts and supplying those to projects.

According to official sources, there aretwo testing labs in the country to ascer-tain the quality and standard of solarpanels and other relevant equipment.

One of the labs has been set up at state-owned Bangladesh Council of Scientificand Industrial Research (BCSIR) inDhaka while another at BangladeshUniversity of Engineering and Technol-ogy.

Sustainable and Renewable Energy De-velopment Authority (Sreda) has played

a support-ive role insetting up

these two laboratories as it promotes thedevelopment of renewable energy in thecountry, the sources said.

But local solar module manufacturersare not happy with the facilities of thesetwo laboratories as they do not have in-ternational accreditation.

“Since these two labs have no interna-tional accreditation, their certificationsare not useful in businesses like the sup-ply of solar modules to local projects orexport,” said Munawar Moin, presidentof Solar Module Manufacturers Associ-ation (SMMAB)

Munawar Moin said the supply of localsolar products requires certificates from

the laboratories which have ac-creditation from the InternationalElectrotechnical Commission(IEC), a global body.

The IEC has been the appropriatebody for the accreditation of in-ternational standards and con-formity assessment for allelectrical, electronic and relatedtechnologies, he said.

Solar Module Industry in Trouble

The Bangladesh Solar and Renew-able Energy Association (BSREA)

has identified nine key areas where thegovernment needs to provide height-ened importance to help rehabilitatethe local solar sector which has expe-rienced a severe blow from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a recent letter to the ministry of fi-nance, the association leaders said thecritical situation of coronavirus causedirreparable damage to the solar powerand renewable energy business.

Only the greatest efforts can help over-come the situation and reach the gov-ernment's goal to generate 10 per centpower from renewable energy sourcesby next year, BSREA president Dipal C

Barua said in the letter.

He requested the government to giveimportance in agricultural productionthrough solar irrigation pumps, imple-menting 'My Village, My Town' projectthrough renewable energy, power gen-eration through floating solar powerplant, and setting up solar PV- DieselHybrid mini cold storage.

The association chief also requested fortaking projects for electrification of cy-clone shelter centers, community clin-ics, and primary/secondary schoolsthrough renewable energy, quickeningprocedures for setting up of solar rooftopnet metering projects in every publicand private buildings, and electrificationof rural areas by solar street lights.

Solar Energy Sector Seeks Govt Supportto Survive Covid-19

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34August 1, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recentlylaunched Asia’s largest solar plant in

Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa through video-conferencing and said the state willemerge as a major hub for clean andcheap power in the country.

“Not just for the present, solar energy willbe a medium of energy needs of the 21stcentury because solar power is sure, pureand secure and the country is nowamong the top five solar power producersin the world. India has emerged as themost attractive global market for cleanenergy,” said Modi while inaugurating thea 750 MW solar project.

The prime minister added that even theDelhi Metro will get power from theRewa solar project. “With this solar plantat Rewa, the industries here will not onlyget electricity, but even the metro rail inDelhi will get its benefits. Apart fromRewa, work is underway on solar powerplants in Shajapur, Neemuch andChhatarpur,” he said.

The Rewa project comprises three solargenerating units of 250 MW each locatedon a 500 hectare plot of land situated in-side a Solar Park (total area 1500hectare).

The Solar Park was developed by theRewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL),a joint venture company of MadhyaPradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited(MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporationof India (SECI), a Central Public SectorUndertaking.

Modi LaunchesAsia’s Largest SolarPlant in MadhyaPradesh

Anew joint-venture company (JVC),'Bangladesh-China Power Com-

pany (pvt) Ltd (Renewable)', has beenformed to implement renewable energyprojects with intent to generate 500megawatt (MW) of electricity.

China and Bangladesh formallylaunched the company through a virtualdeal-signing ceremony recently.

The state-run North-West Power Gener-ation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) andChina National Machinery Import andExport Corporation (CMC) inked thejoint-venture agreement.

The contract was aimed at establishingthe joint venture in which both firmswill have a 50-per cent stake each.

The authorized capital ofthe JVC is Tk 10 billionwhile its paid-up capital isTk 160 million.

State minister for power, energy andmineral resources Nasrul Hamid wasthe chief guest at the program chairedby power secretary Dr Sultan Ahmed.

In his speech, Mr Hamid told the eventthat the government will continue pro-viding incentives to increase the use ofrenewable energy.

Net metering system has been intro-duced to encourage renewable energy-based distributed generation, he said.

Steps have been taken to further expandthe use of solar home system, added MrHamid.

A lack of non-agro land is impeding theimplementation of large-scale solar

power plant projects in thecountry, he stated.

Work is being carried out toimplement floating androoftop solar power plants,mentioned Mr Hamid.

Steps have also been taken togenerate electricity fromwaste, he went on to day.

New Sino-BD JV in EnergySector Launched

The government of Bangladesh hasapproved a $26 million project to

provide free solar home systems to40,000 households in three hilly districtswith uncertain prospects of being incor-porated into the electricity grid by 2045.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina approvedthe spending — the second phase of aproject to provide free solar panels to

households in thethree communities ofthe Chittagong HillTracts area — recentlyat a meeting of the na-

tion’s highest decision-making body, theexecutive committee of the NationalEconomic Council.

Under the latest phase of the program,2,500 320 Wp community solar systemswill be installed at student hostels, or-phanages and community centers in ad-dition to the 40,000 home panels, and42,500 people will receive training inmaintenance of the systems.

The previous, $9 million phase of freesolar provision in the area saw 10,890home systems, 2,814 community instal-lations and 5,890 solar-powered cellphone chargers issued between July2015 and June last year.

Bangladesh to Install Another40,000 Free SHSs

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The controversial Matar-bari Coal Power Plantfunded by The Japan In-

ternational CooperationAgency (JICA) came under firefrom civil society organiza-tions recently for unsafe work-ing practices resulting in thedeath and serious injury ofseveral workers.

Authorities are continuing theconstruction work of Matar-bari coal-fired power plant in Cox’sBazar despite COVID-19 and risks to3000 workers. A strike by workers inApril demanding a halt to the projectdue to COVID-19 fears ended when au-thorities deployed law enforcers to endthe strike.

Matarbari is a densely populated islandin Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh home toone hundred thousand people.Bangladesh is already at the mercy ofclimate change’s rising sea levels andincreasingly severe tropical cyclones. InMay 2020 Cyclone Ampan causedwidespread devastation and forced re-location of 2 million people.

“Cyclones like Ampan are a stark re-minder of the dangers that Bangladeshfaces. It is frustrating that despiteCOVID-19 and the climate crisis, theBangladesh government is refusing torise to the occasion and stop coal plantprojects. There needs to be an urgent re-view of power generation plans and arapid move towards a just and green re-covery,” said Shohan of Fridays for Fu-ture, Bangladesh.

Communities displaced by the develop-ment of the coal plant allege that cor-ruption, malpractice, and violations ofhuman rights have occurred concerningland acquisition and relocationprocesses. The plant's development hasalso contributed to the worsening offloods because of a destruction of water

channels for agriculture and watergates, damage of community roads, anincrease in traffic accidents, and inflowand accumulation of sediment in sur-

rounding rivers, which has significantadverse impacts on livelihoods of localcommunities.

Campaigners are calling on JICA tocompensate the families of the deceasedworker, stop any further work on the

project, review funding tooverseas coal projects inBangladesh and stop financ-ing new projects includingthe proposed Phase 2 of theMatabari coal plant.

“Our condolences go out tothe family and friends of theworkers affected. It is ap-palling that the lives of work-ers are being risked by unsafeworking conditions and forc-ing people to work during a

global pandemic” Shibayan, Organiser,350.org

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Climate

August 1, 2020

Organizations Condemn Matarbari CoalPower Plant Accident

Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recentlysaid the government will arrange

housing for those losing their homes inflood and riverbank erosion alongsiderehabilitating the landless and homelesspeople across the country.

"This time the flood looks to be serious...more floods are likely to occur in Augustand September. We've preparations toface these. We'll also arrange accom-modation and lands for those losingtheir homes in flood or river erosion,"she said.

The Prime Minister said this while open-ing the special structures built under'Khurushkul Ashrayan Project' in Cox'sBazar for 600 climate refugees.

Sheikh Hasina inaugurated 20 five-storey structures constructed in the firstphase of the world's biggest climaterefugee rehabilitation project at Khu-rushkul on the outskirts of Cox's Bazarthrough a videoconference from her of-ficial residence Ganobhaban.

The 600 families are getting their newabodes with all modern facilities in 20structures, each having 32 flats, con-structed on the bank of the BakkhaliRiver, just three kilometres off the beachtown.

At the inaugural function, some benefi-ciaries were handed over the keys of the456-square foot flats.

The Prime Minister said the governmentis takingmeasu re sfor the re-habilitationof landlessand home-less peoplethroughoutthe coun-try.

Housing for All Climate Refugees: PM

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Climate

August 1, 2020

Speakers during a recentwebinar said the country's

green rights campaigns likeBangladesh Poribesh An-dolon (Bapa) have vital con-tribution raising massawareness on the importanceof nature and environment.

Besides, such campaignsoften spearheaded by Bapaalso helped the governmentto take new decisions andpolicies to protect the envi-ronment, they said.

Bapa organized the webinaron the occasion of its 20thanniversary.

The leading environmentalplatform started its journeyon July 20, 2000 through apress conference. Since then,it took the country's greenrights campaign to a newheight, said the speakers.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, anoted environment lawyer,said Bapa's major success isthat it did not limit itselfwithin Dhaka city but spreadits activities all over thecountry.

It successfully raised aware-ness about the importance ofthe river Buriganga throughcampaigning, which is amajor achievement of the

platform, she said.

Presenting a keynote paper,Bapa Vice President NazrulIslam said the platform hasbeen running its activitiesthrough voluntary service.

He said banning three-wheelers with two-stroke en-gine was a result of Bapa'ssuccessful campaign, while italso played a vital role in cre-ating awareness about thesorry state of the country'srivers.

Noted economist Prof AnuMuhammad said it is impor-tant to incorporate the coun-

try's nature andenvironmental issues in polit-ical thinking.

Sadly, the government in thepast two decades took evenmore rigid stance against thenature and environment inthe name of different devel-opment projects, he added.

"We all know how challeng-ing it is for a campaign tocontinue past 20 years, espe-cially when the issues in-volve protecting and keepingthe environment alive andmarch with it," said notedrights activist and Bapa Pres-ident Sultana Kamal.

Two Decades of BangladeshPoribesh Andolon

Climate VulnerableForum (CVF) has chosen

Saima Wazed Hossain as aThematic Ambassadorunder the thematic domainof 'Vulnerability'.

Saima is the Chairperson ofthe National Advisory Com-mittee on Neurodevelop-mental Disorders andAutism of the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfareof Bangladesh, and an ac-complished speaker and au-thor.

CVF also made Speaker andformer President of MaldivesMohamed Nasheed, DeputySpeaker of the Parliament ofthe Philippines LorenLegarda and Lead ClimateChange Specialist of DR ofCongo Tosi Mpanu-Mpanuas its "Thematic Ambassa-dors" under three other the-matic domains respectively- Ambition, Parliament andRenewable Energy, a For-eign Ministry press releasesaid recently.

On behalf of the BangladeshPresidency and Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina, ForeignMinister Dr A K AbdulMomen invited them to takethe roles, it added.

"As CVF thematic ambassa-dors, they will endeavor tocreate global public cam-paign and mobilize differentstakeholders, groups andvoices to raise global aware-ness on climate vulnerabili-ties, especially to pursuecountries to keep the ParisAgreement goal of 1.5 de-gree centigrade alive," therelease said.

After assuming the Presi-dency of CVF and the Vul-nerable Twenty (V20) Groupof Finance Ministers,Bangladesh has decided toengage six thematic Ambas-sadors to help strengthen itsnetworking and engagementwith key actors throughoutthe world in six identifiedcore areas of ambition, cul-ture, finance, parliaments,renewable energy and vul-nerability.

Saima Wazed, MohamedNasheed, Loren Legardaand Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu arehighly regarded in their re-spective domains. Two moreThematic Ambassadors forculture and finance will alsobe appointed from MarshallIslands and Costa Rica.

Climate Vulnerable ForumPicks Saima Wazed as Thematic

Ambassador

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The amount of plasticwaste flowing into the

ocean and killing marine lifecould triple in the next 20years, unless companies andgovernments can drasticallyreduce plastic production,according to a new studypublished recently.

The new research, producedby scientists and industry ex-perts for The Pew CharitableTrusts and SYSTEMIQ, offerssolutions that could cut theprojected volume of plasticentering the ocean by morethan 80%. The roadmap forstemming the runaway oceanplastic waste crisis is amongthe most detailed ever offeredin a study.

If no action is taken, how-ever, the amount of plasticgoing into the sea every yearwill rise from 11 million

tonnes to 29 million tonnes,leaving a cumulative 600million tonnes swilling in theocean by 2040, the equiva-lent weight of 3 million bluewhales, according to thestudy published in the jour-nal Science.

The amount of plastic pro-duced annually has beenclimbing fast since 1950,when global production to-talled 2 million tonnes. In2017, that number was 348million tonnes, and is ex-pected to double again by2040, the study estimates.

Big plastic makers, includingExxonMobil, Dow andChevron Phillips Chemical,have said they are committedto tackling plastic pollution,despite increasing produc-tion. The projects they fundfocus on cleaning up waste.

Oceans Plastic Pollution to Tripleby 2040: Study

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Climate

August 1, 2020

A23-year-old student hasfiled a lawsuit against

Australia's government alleg-ing it has failed to discloseclimate change-related risksto investors in the country'ssovereign bonds, in the firstsuch action.

According to the litigationfiled recently, Kathleen O'-Donnell claims investorswho buy Australian govern-ment bonds should be madeaware of the risks due to cli-mate change that might makeit difficult for Australia to payback its debt.

A spokeswoman for Aus-tralia's Treasurer said the gov-ernment was aware of thelawsuit.

"Legal representatives areconsidering the matter. As itconcerns current court pro-ceedings the government willnot make any comment," the

spokeswoman said.

The litigation comes amid aglobal call for a "green" re-covery in the wake of thenovel coronavirus pandemicand as many large invest-ment managers pledge theircommitment for net zero car-bon emissions by 2050across their entire portfolio.

Climate change has longbeen a hot button issue inAustralia, becoming evenmore so since last summerwhen intense wildfires ragedfor about four months acrosslarge parts of the country,killing 33 people and mil-lions of animals.

"Australia is materially ex-posed and susceptible" to cli-mate change risks, accordingto the statement filed with theFederal Court of Australia inVictoria state.

Student Files First Climate ChangeLawsuit Against Australia

Dhaka South City Corpo-ration mayor Sheikh

Fazle Noor Taposh recentlyannounced to plant one lakh

trees in DSCC, to increaseforestation and protect theenvironment of the city.

He madethe an-n o u n c e -ment whileinaugurat-ing a treeplantationprogram atNagar Bha-

DSCC to Plant One Lakh Trees

ban premises.

He said Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina has intendedto plant one crore treesacross the country, andDSCC wants to be a part ofthat initiative.

The mayor planted three Kr-ishnochura and two Rad-

hachura trees at Nagar Bha-ban premises.

Among others, chief execu-tive office Shah Md ImdadulHaque, chief waste manage-ment officer Md Badrul Aminand secretary Akramuzza-man were present at theevent.

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Firefighters on the outskirts of Bredbo, New South Wales, Australia, in February,

when wildfires devastated vast stretches of the state. Credit: Matthew Abbott for

The New York Times

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Climate

August 1, 2020

Climate activist GretaThunberg was recently

awarded a Portuguese rightsaward and promptly pledgedthe million-euro prize togroups working to protect theenvironment and halt climatechange.

"That is more money than Ican begin to imagine, but allthe prize money will be do-nated, through my founda-tion, to differentorganizations and projectswho are working to help peo-ple on the front line, affectedby the climate crisis and eco-logical crisis," the Swedishteen said in a video postedonline.

She was awarded the Gul-benkian Prize for Humanityfor the way she "has beenable to mobilize youngergenerations for the cause ofclimate change and her tena-cious struggle to alter a statusquo that persists", Jorge Sam-paio, chair of the prize jury,said earlier.

The million euro ($1.1 mil-lion) is the largest prize wonby the 17-year-old environ-mental campaigner who hasalso won Amnesty Interna-tional's top human rightsprize and the Swedish RightLivelihood Award, often pre-sented as an alternativeNobel.

Thunberg Donates 1m Euro RightsPrize to Green Groups

AEuropean Commissionproposal for the European

Union's long-term budget andrecovery fund risks leaving ahuge shortfall in the "green"investment needed to meetEurope's climate goals, re-searchers said recently.

With the coronavirus pan-demic plunging the EU into adeep recession, leaders fromits 27 countries will met inBrussels to attempt to agreethe bloc's budget for 2021-27and an economic stimulus

fund.

The EU Commission has pro-posed a 1.85 trillion euro($2.10 trillion) package,which it says will drive a re-covery in Europe's virus-hiteconomies based on "green"industries and technologiesthat help to reduce emissionsof the greenhouse gases fuel-ing climate change.

But only 80 billion euros arefirmly earmarked for climateprotection, according to an

EU Budget Plan Falls Far Short onClimate Goals, Researchers Say

Climate change is starvingpolar bears into extinc-

tion, according to researchpublished recently that pre-dicts the apex carnivorescould all but disappearwithin the span of a humanlifetime.

In some regions they are al-ready caught in a viciousdownward spiral, withshrinking sea ice cutting short

the time bears have for hunt-ing seals, scientists reportedin Nature Climate Change.

Their dwindling body weightundermines their chances ofsurviving Arctic winters with-out food, the scientistsadded.

"The bears face an everlonger fasting period beforethe ice refreezes and theycan head back out to feed,"

said Steven Amstrup, whoconceived the study and ischief scientist of Polar BearsInternational.

On current trends, the studyconcluded, polar bears in 12of 13 subpopulations ana-lyzed will have been deci-mated within 80 years by thegalloping pace of change inthe Arctic, which is warmingtwice as fast as the planet as

a whole.

The threat is not rising tem-peratures per se but the top-of-the-food-chain predators'inability to adapt to a rapidlyshifting environment.

"If somehow, by magic, seaice could be maintainedeven as temperatures in-crease, polar bears might befine," Amstrup said by email.

Climate Change on Track to WipeOut Polar Bears by 2100

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analysis by the consultancyClimate & Company andthink tank Agora En-ergiewende.

That would pale against the2.4 trillion euros in low-car-bon investments that the re-searchers said were neededby 2027 to meet the EU's cur-rent emissions-cutting goals.

They said investment priori-ties should be rapidly expand-ing renewable power

generating capacity, clean hy-drogen production, energy-saving building renovationsand electric vehicle charginginfrastructure.

"There is a real discrepancybetween the narrative we areseeing at the highest politicallevel and the details of theproposals," said MatthiasBuck, head of European en-ergy policy at Agora En-ergiewende.

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The international prices of oil, gasand coal have depleted substan-tially due to the Covid-19 pan-

demic as all these are somehow linked.It will not be worth taking risks with aparticular primary fuel as Bangladesh isgradually becoming dependent on im-ported primary fuel.

Engr. A.M. Khurshedul Alam, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, North-West Power Gen-eration Company Limited (NWPGCL),said this in response to a suggestion forgenerating power in future mostly onimported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)instead of coal.

He expressed the opinion in an exclu-sive interview with Energy & Power Ed-itor Mollah Amzad Hossain.

The country’s power generation capac-ity now is much higher than the de-mand. There are allegations that thegeneration cost is increasing for pay-ment of capacity charges to idle gener-ators. Your company also have someliquid fuel-based plants. What are yourviews about such allegations?

The present installed capacity of grid-connected power is 20,000-21,000MW. If you exclude the capacity of theold-aged less efficient generation plants,the capacity will shrink by at least 2,000MW. You have to consider that all thepower plants are subject to some sched-uled and unscheduled maintenance forabout 10% time of a year. Hence the re-serve margin is not more than 30%.Such situation exists in many countriesof the world. In addition, some spinningreserve in the plant capacity is also re-quired for maintaining frequency of thegrid through FGMO (Free GovernorMode Operation). For ensuring supply

security of the power system, such re-serve margin is essential.

Our liquid fuel-based power plants arein the North Western region ofBangladesh where there is no supply ofnatural gas. Of this, only the engine-based 100 MW Modhumoti is exclu-sively reliant on liquid fuel. Other plantshave been made dual-fuel based, mak-ing 5% additional investment. All theseare running on gas excepting the Khulnapower plant. We could have displacedthe liquid fuel in power generation if wecan ensure adequate supply of naturalgas or regasified LNG.

The availability of LNG in gas grid hasincreased gas supply capacity for powergeneration. NWPGCL has some dual-fuel plants. Will you run these by gas infuture?

The supply of natural gas in power gen-eration has been increased in the recentyears due to inclusion of LNG. Ofcourse, credit goes to the government,Energy Division and Petrobangla. How-ever, the demand of gas has also beenincreased by this time and there is stillshortage of gas supply in power sector.Hence, BPDB can’t fully discard liquidfuel-based power plants from the systemyet. One out of four power plants in ourSirajganj power generation hub is not inoperation for non-availability of gas.Our Khulna 225 MW Combined CyclePower Plant has also dual-fuel provisionand we can switch to gas operation assoon as we receive gas in Khulna.Petrobangla pledged to supply gas tothis power plant within Mujib Borshowhich is a very good news for us. Thegeneration cost from this power plantwould reduce significantly if we can run

the plant on natural gas.

You have finalized the works for engag-ing construction contractor for 800 MWLNG-based power plant in Khulna.How the fuel will be supplied for this?Will LNG come from India orPetrobangla would supply gas throughpipeline?

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)has agreed to finance for this plantbased on Petrobangla’s assurance forgas supply. Now the onus is onPetrobangla on how the gas will be sup-plied. The construction activities have

Engr. A.M. Khurshedul Alam

We have a plan for setting upmine-mouth power plant using our owncoal. But no formal activities have been

launched yet. But we have a plan forsetting up a tripartite Joint Venture

among Petrobangla, NWPGCL and anexperienced coal-fired power

generation company.

‘30% Reserve Margin Essentialfor Power System Security’

41

Interview

August 1, 2020

been started. The COVID-19 pandemicof course has slowed down the project.It is expected that this plant will comeinto operation by 2022.

You have formed a joint venture com-pany for a 3,600 MW LNG-basedpower plant at Payra. The joint ventureis in operation after extensive reviewsand brainstorming. Will you create LNGsupply infrastructure for this orPetrobangla would supply LNG for this?

This project is still in developmentphase and undergoing some techno-commercial studies. The entire workswill be executed through two compa-nies. One will be a power generationcompany and the other will be LNGsupply company. The shareholders ofthe project will own both companies.Excelerate Energy L.P., a renowned US-based LNG company which is also suc-cessfully operating FSRU in Bangladesh,is in the process of accession to the con-sortium for the project with NWPCGL,Siemens and CMC.

Feasibility study for the power plant parthas already been completed. Feasibilitystudy for LNG supply is now in progress.Financial adviser for the project hasbeen selected. Works is going on for en-gagement of legal adviser and tax ad-viser. EIA study of the project is also inprogress and we expect to submit EIAreport for the power block to the De-partment of Environment (DOE) for ap-proval by September 2020.

NWPGCL is now the forerunner of im-ported coal-based power generation.Starting later, the first 660 MW unit ofyour 1,320 MW capacity power plant isalready in commercial operation. Theother unit is almost ready. What areyour feelings?

We are really overwhelmed by the factthat the first ever ultra-super criticaltechnology using modern power planthas come into operation in Bangladesh.It has been possible due to having agreat leader. Honorable Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina herself is in charge of theMinistry of Power, Energy & Mineral Re-sources. Her visionary leadership andfortitude made it possible to set up sucha state-of-the-Art technology using

power plant at a far-flung neglected re-gion. The entire credit for implementingsuch a project in the shortest possibletime goes to her. We have only actedfollowing her directives. Our continuedcommitment emanates from patriotismand ideology of the great liberation warof 1971.

Constraints of transmission grid forevacuating the power have delayed thecommercial operation of the first 660MW unit. The synchronization of thesecond unit would be completedshortly. But due to constraints of trans-mission line, the entire power cannot beevacuated. Upon request of PGCB, wehave started working on 400/132 kVgrid substation at Payra. Once it is com-pleted, about 65-70% power from our1,320 MW capacity plant can be evac-uated to the power grid. On the otherhand, the construction works of Gopal-ganj to Aminbazar 400 kV power trans-mission line is also advancing. Payrapower plant cannot start operation infull capacity till the works of 400 kVpower transmission line all the way upto Aminbazar is completed. Hopefullyby end of 2021, the nation will get fullbenefits of the power plant.

According to the plan, NWPGCL andCMC are to start works of the second1,320 MW Payra power plant. What isthe status of it now? When the physicalconstruction would start?

During the construction of the first1,320 MW plant of phase-1, we carriedout some preparatory works of phase-2as per the plan. These include land de-velopment, water treatment and waterintake related activities. A 320-meterwide jetty for receiving imported coal isalso built. We will extend it by another208-meter in the second stage. Testpilling works are already done. The EPCcontractor will complete 20% of theworks using its own fund as per contractbefore the financial closure of the proj-ect. These works are in progress now.Exim Bank of China, which pledged tofinance the project, could not work forthree months during the COVID-19pandemic. They have resumed work re-cently. We are expecting financial clo-sure for the phase-2 project within a

year.

For the shallow draft at the port, coal forthe 660 MW capacity unit is now beingtransported in 50% filled coal carrierfrom Indonesia. What is the cost oftransportation per tonne now? When thetransshipment infrastructure would beready?

The present transportation cost of coalis US$17-18 per tonne. The transship-ment infrastructure at Andaman wassupposed to be ready by the end of2021. But we advised the transporter todelay a bit till we are ready to generateand evacuate 1,320 MW from Payra.Otherwise, it will not be financially vi-able.

Do you have any plan for Joint Venturedevelopment of coalmine and setting upof mine mouth coal power plant? Whatkind of preparation you will take if youhave such plan?

We have a plan for setting up mine-mouth power plant using our own coal.But no formal activities have beenlaunched yet. But we have a plan forsetting up a tripartite Joint Ventureamong Petrobangla, NWPGCL and anexperienced coal-fired power genera-tion company. The thoughts are aboutexploiting coal of Petrobangla-ownedDighipara coal field. Petrobangla is car-rying out feasibility study for it.

Subject to the green signal of Power Di-vision, we are considering for submit-ting a formal proposal to Petrobangla.

The generation capacity is now thewidely discussed issue. Some expertsare now advising for not adding newgeneration capacity. They are also sug-gesting for not adding any more im-ported coal based power plants inaddition to those under construction.They are suggesting for LNG based newpower generation. What are your views?

I have a bit different opinion. Weshouldn’t stop development activities inthe power sector. All the existing powerplants have definitive life expectancy(about 20-25 years) after which theplants need to be retired. PSMP-2016addressed the issue and incorporated aretirement plan for the power plant. Sec-

42August 1, 2020

ondly, expensive liquid fuel-based gen-eration are to be replaced with highlyefficient and cost-effective generationunits. On the other hand, the demand ofelectricity is also growing annually withthe economic development. The gov-ernment is also developing multipleeconomic zones which will augmentthe demand significantly in near future.Hence, stopping power plant develop-ment would result in a boomerang atsome point.

With regards to fuel selection for powergeneration, I don’t support the idea ofreliance on a single fuel. Our fuel mix istending towards imported fuel. Monofuel dependency would make energysecurity vulnerable. Rather, we wouldopt for a sustainable fuel mix by opti-mizing generation cost, energy securityand environmental impacts. We mustdecide a fuel mix through reviewingPSMP from time to time. Suddenchanges must not be arbitrarily made.

NWPGCL has formed a JV company forrenewable power generation apart fromfossil fuel-based power. When theplanned solar and wind power plantswill come into operation?

Works of grid-connected renewablepower plants in Bangladesh is not pro-gressing admirably at all. A few in-vestors could not proceed even aftersigning agreements with the govern-ment. Even in this situation NWPGCLfor its commitment to power sector hasstarted working on renewable powergeneration by forming a Bangladesh—China JV (Private) power company withCMC China. We are expecting to regis-ter the company by August 2020. Wewill get FDI for different projects bythen.

We are expecting that a 60 MW solarpower plant can be brought into opera-tion at Sujanagar, Pabna by the JV com-pany by end 2021. The government hasalready allotted non-farming land forthis plant. We have already started fenc-ing works of the project site. Our 50MW capacity wind power plant will belocated at Payra. It is expected to putinto operation by 2022. Although weare starting with Solar and Wind ini-

tially, eventually we will explore all op-tions of renewable energy.

All through his life time, Bangabandhuattached highest priority to achievingenergy security for realizing his SonarBangla Vision. He envisioned for ensur-ing affordable power supply to all ex-ploiting own primary fuel resources.What are your views about this?

Only visionary leaders can dream andrealize it. Bangabandhu was one of thevery few ones. Returning to his land ofdream after the independence, helaunched mission for achieving the en-ergy security for laying the basic foun-dation for economic development. Heengaged experienced and competentmanpower for all the companies of en-ergy and power. He attached highestpriority to the use of own gas instead ofimported fuel. With the expectation ofdiscovering oil, he launched explo-

ration campaign in the Bay of Bengal.He bought discovered gas resourcesfrom foreign company at a nominalcost. The gas of those fields he took overis still the backbone of the energy andpower sector. The energy sector is stillstanding on the foundation laid byBangabandhu. Honorable Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina is now expanding andfurther developing it.

What are your future plans with NW-PGCL?

NWPGCL is a state-owned enterprise.Public welfare is the vision of the gov-ernment. As we are working on ensur-ing affordable and quality power supplyto all, our aims and challenges are be-coming more and more efficient at ourworks and establish ourselves as a cen-ter of excellence in the power genera-tion of Bangladesh.

43August 1, 2020

Report

Commercial gas production from therecently discovered Srikail East-1

gas field in Brahmanbaria is set to startin November this year.

The field can produce around 12-13million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per dayto supply to the national gas transmis-sion line.

In the meantime, drilling in two othersgas fields in Noria and Jamalpur willstart as well, said a senior official at theEnergy and Mineral Resources Division.

He said the energy division has recentlyundertaken a six-month work plan cen-tering Bangladesh Petroleum Explo-

ration and Production Company Limited(Bapex) amid mixed reactions over itsperformance.

"These initiatives are a part of that workplan undertaken to increase the produc-tivity of the state-owned gas and oil ex-ploration company," he said.

There is wide criticism about the pro-ductivity of Bapex and some expertshave been saying that foreign compa-nies should be hired for gas explorationand production.

"But we are committed to strengtheningour company. That is why we have un-dertaken this work plan. A summary [of

the plan] has been sent to theprime minister and she appreci-ated the initiative," the officialadded.

The plan includes gas production,drilling for gas exploration andconducting an exclusive three-di-mensional survey in the south-eastern part of the country.

Gas Production from Srikail East-1Field to Start in November

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