M2K TECHNOLOGY & TRADING CO., BANGLADESH.

M2K TECHNOLOGY & TRADING CO. PTE LTD., SINGAPORE.

WE REPRESENT:

Phenix Technologies Inc., USA. Phenix Systems AG, Switzerland. www.phenixtech.com & www.phenixsystems.com

Doble Engineering Company., USA. www.doble.com

Vanguard Instruments Company Inc., USA. www.vanguard-instruments.com

Manta Test Systems Inc., USA. www.mantatest.com

Morgan Schaffer, Canada. www.morganschaffer.com

Globecore GmbH, Germany. www.globecore.de

Larsen & Toubro Limited, India. www.lntebg.com

Powerchina Nuclear Engineering Company Limited, P.R. China. www.powerchina-ne.com

SINGAPORE:

Block 428, Clement i Avenue 3 # 10-430, Singapore-120428.Tel:+65-8299-8715 E-mail: info@m2kttc.com Website: www.m2kttc.com

BANGLADESH:

Amin Court Building (2nd floor), 62-63 Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka -1000, Bangladesh.Tel :+880-2-5716-0955 Fax : +880-2-5716-0966 E-mail : m2kttc@gmail.com

A drive to disconnect illegal gas lines is going on across the country becausethese often cause leakages and devastating fire accidents. Some 722 fireincidents took place from the leakages in 2020. Insiders think the illegal linesmushroomed since 2010, following suspension of new connection. It hasalmost gone beyond control by now. Consequently, the government hasintensified the drive after Eid-ul-Fitr and so far disconnected around 72,000such lines. High officials in the government at a recent seminar made it clearthat they will go tough against the menace this time as Prime Minister SheikhHasina gave green signal to show zero tolerance. Stern actions would be takeneven against the gas sector officials if found involved in the process.

While the ongoing drive, if continued as per plan, would help mitigate the risksof accidents, the government should also focus on exploring new gas resourcesso that people can be provided with legal connections.

Energy & Power regularly brings out its anniversary issue on June 16 everyyear since the beginning of its publication. We could not, however,maintain it this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, we are planningto publish it in September.

Fortnightly Magazine, Vol 19, Issue 1, June 16-30

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

ReportersArunima Hossain

Assistant Online EditorAditya Hossain

Manager A & AMd. Ariful Islam

Design & GraphicsMd. Monirul Islam

PhotographyBulbul Ahmed

ProductionMufazzal Hossain Joy

Computer GraphicsMd. Uzzal Hossain

Circulation AssistantKhokan Chandra Das

Editorial, 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.com

PriceBangladesh: Tk 50, SAARC: US$ 6,Asia: US$ 8, Europe: US$ 10, NorthAmerica, Africa & Australia: US$ 14

We strongly feel that the gov-ernment should give incentiveto people of the country to useEVs like they are doing foragricultural machinery. Theycan provide cash subsidy andwithdraw AIT, registration,fitness, and route permit feesfor EVs. Low-cost financing forEV purchase could be madeavailable for vehicle owners.… Mir Masud Kabir tells EP

The low-hanging fruits fromstructural traps of eastern regionhave already been explored.Exploration from tightstratigraphic traps of SouthWestern region may berelatively challenging.Acquisition of more datathrough planned 2D and 3Dseismic surveys and preparationof data bank is needed. ...morein Special Report

The authorities concerned would showzero tolerance in eliminating the illegalgas connections. It is being told thatnone would be spared this time if foundguilty during the disconnection drive.Stern actions would also be taken evenagainst the gas sector officials ifinvolved in the process. It would,however, be extremely challenging tomanage the huge distribution networkand policing the illegal use of gas withlimited capacity.

45

C o n t e n t s

Contents

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 SNAPSHOT

Latest Development

9 COVER

A Death Trap

15 COVER ARTICLE

Cities Sitting on ‘Sleeping

Volcano’

19 SPECIAL REPORT

Thrust on Pragmatic

Exploration Planning

23 ARTICLE

Exploration Key to Manage

Gas Shortage

25 SDGs

Gender Equity

Climate Vulnerability, Covid

and Implementation of SDG

29 REPORT

Nasrul for Using Pre­Paid

Meters for Electricity, Gas

30 FY22 Budget Proposes

Source Tax for Power Plants

31 Summit Meghnaghat­II

Welcomes GE’s First HA

Gas Turbine

33 Gas a Pragmatic Answer to

Realize Energy Transition:

GECF Forum

34 Desco to Get Smart with

Prepaid Meters

39 CLIMATE

PM for P4G’s Collective

Efforts to Build Greener

Future

41 Chevron Approves Proposal

to Cut Customer Emissions

42 Dhaka Hopes London to

Promote Interest of CVCs: PM

43 COLUMN

Bangladesh Sets an Example in

Climate Adaptation

45 INTERVIEW

Mir Masud Kabir,

Co­founder and Managing

Director of BAIL

35 ADB Finds Sites for 61MW Floating Solar Plants

37 Dhaka Seeks UK Support

in Clean Energy Tech

38 Wärtsilä Finalizes

Commissioning Its First

Two Storage Projects

38 Singapore Places $1.8b

for Green Investments

5

Worldwatch

June 16, 2021

Steel producer PAO Severstal and PJSC Gazprom Neft haveagreed to collaborate in the development of technologies in-volving capture and use of carbon dioxide, and developing ma-terials for transportation and storage of hydrogen.

The two companies may also decide to jointly develop decar-bonization projects, which could include altering productionprocesses currently using hydrocarbon fuel to run on methane-hydrogen mixtures instead.

Severstal has a target to reduce its emissions by 3% by 2023(from 2020 levels). Earlier this year it established a corporate di-vision focused on use of hydrogen and decarbonization oppor-tunities (carbon capture and disposal and CO2 offsetting).

Gazprom Neft Enters CarbonCapture, Hydrogen Venture

On June 5 (World Environment Day), Siemens Energyand Mitsubishi Electric signed a Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study on thejoint development of high-voltage switching solutionswith zero global-warming potential (GWP) that substi-tute greenhouse gases with clean air for insulation.

Both companies will research methods for scaling upthe application of clean-air insulation technology tohigher voltages.

They’ll start with a 245-kV dead-tank circuit breakerthat will speed up the availability of climate-neutralhigh-voltage switching solutions for customers aroundthe globe.

Both partners will continue to manufacture, sell, andservice switchgear solutions independently.

In most of the world's substations, sulfur hexafluoride(SF6) — the most potent greenhouse gas in the world,with a potential for global warming roughly 23,500times greater than CO2, — is still the insulating gas ofchoice.

Even with a very low number of leakages, the impact onglobal warming is significant. In light of the drive towardglobal decarbonization, the demand for alternatives is grow-ing as operators seek future-proof technologies that signifi-cantly reduce the carbon footprint of their systems.

Siemens Energy, MitsubishiElectric Sign MoU

LPG Cylinder Explosion Leadsto House Collapse, 8 Dead

French oil and gas group Total and U.S. energy companyChevron have suspended some payments from a gas joint ven-ture that would have reached Myanmar's junta, earning praisefrom pro-democracy activists for taking an important first step.

International companies doing business in the country havecome under pressure from rights groups and Myanmar's parallelcivilian government to review their operations to stop paymentsflowing to a military government that seized power on Feb. 1.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the army overthrew theelected government and detained its leader Aung San Suu Kyi,and the junta has responded with brutal force to daily protests,marches and strikes nationwide in support of the ousted civilianadministration.

In a statement, Total said "in light of the unstable context inMyanmar" after a joint proposal with Chevron shareholders atthe meeting of the Moattama Gas Transportation Companyvoted to suspend all cash distributions.

Total is the biggest shareholder with 31.24%, while Chevronholds 28%. Thailand's PTTEP and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enter-prise hold the remainder.

"Total condemns the violence and human rights abuses occur-ring in Myanmar and reaffirms that it will comply with any de-cision that may be taken by the relevant international andnational authorities, including applicable sanctions issued bythe EU or the U.S. authorities," the statement said.

Chevron in a statement said: "The humanitarian crisis in Myan-mar requires a collective response to improve the welfare of thepeople of Myanmar."

The U.S. company also said: "Any actions should be carefullyconsidered to ensure the people of Myanmar are not further dis-advantaged by unintended and unpredictable consequences ofwell-intentioned decisions."

Total, Chevron SuspendPayments to Myanmar Junta

Eight people, including three children, have been killedwhen a double-storied house in Tikri village of Luc-know, India collapsed after an LPG cylinder explosion,police said recently.

Seven people have been grievously injured in the inci-dent and they have been rushed to Lucknow for bettertreatment, officials said.

“The LPG cylinder exploded in the house of one NurulHasan which led to the double-storied house to col-lapse. Eight people died in the incident while sevenothers were seriously injured,” District MagistrateMarkandey Shahi said.

Superintendent of Police, Santosh Kumar Mishra saidpersonnel of the force immediately reached the spotafter receiving information of the incident on itshelpline.

Forensic teams are collecting samples from the site anda probe has been ordered into the incident.

6June 16, 2021

Maddhapara GraniteMining Company Ltd(MGMCL), the onlyhard rock miningcompany in thecountry, is now aprofitable projectunder the state-owned Petrobangla.

The company started contributing to the state treasury after itwent into full production in September last year.

State-run 'Geological Survey of Bangladesh' authority discov-ered the hard rock in a depth of 128 meters under the soil ofMaddhyapara at Parbatipur in Dinajpur district in 1974.

According to a survey, the Madhhyapara mine area spans over1.2 square kilometres and has a reserve of around 174 milliontonnes of hard rock and granite.

South-South Cooperation Corporation (NAMNAM), a NorthKorean company, started developing the mine under a sup-pliers' credit contract in 1994.

Bangladesh delegation visitsRosatom Technical Academy

Maddhapara Hardrock ProjectNow Profitable

State Minister Nas-rul Hamid has di-rected distributioncompanies to expe-dite implementa-tion of projects thatwill ensure uninter-rupted power sup-ply.

All power lines must be taken underground and digitaliza-tion process must be quickened.

He stated these as chief guest at an agreement singing cere-mony between DESCO and National Development Engi-neers (NDE) for establishing the DESCO headquarters.

The minister stated that for Bangladesh to advance in ‘easeof doing business’ index, time to get electricity connectionmust be shortened.

Uninterrupted electricity supply also needed to do well inthe Human Development Index. More attention needs to begiven to properly maintain power stations, substations andother infrastructure.

Power lines in Purbachal, Uttara, Gulshan and Banani areasneed to go underground as soon as possible, he added.

Fast-Track Project Execution toEnsure Smooth Power Supply: Nasrul

Employees of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC)will be get home loan, personal loan, credit card and all otherbanking services on priority basis from all branches of NRBCommercial (NRBC) Bank Limited.

NRB Commercial (NRBC) Bank Limited has signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) with Dhaka Power Distribu-tion Company Limited (DPDC) recently.

NRBC Bank Managing Director and CEO Golam Awlia andDPDC Company Secretary Jayanta Kumar Sikder signed theagreement on behalf of their respective organizations atDPDC office in the capita.

Chairman of NRBC Bank SM Parvez Tamal and Managing Di-rector of DPDC Engineer Bikash Dewan were also present onthe occasion.

DPDC Employees to Get HomeLoan from NRBC Bank

Within the framework of the visit to the Russian Fed-eration, a delegation from the Bangladesh headed byBrigadier General of the NRB Army Abu Noman MdShibbir Ahmed, who is responsible for the creation ofthe physical protection system of the first nuclearpower plant in Bangladesh, visited the Rosatom Tech-nical Academy.

The main goal of the visit was getting acquainted withthe activities of the Technical Academy in the field oftraining personnel for nuclear power facilities.

Opening the meeting, the First Vice-Rector of theTechnical Academy, Vladimir Aspidov, told about theAcademy's experience in the field of personnel train-ing.

According to Egor Bologov, director of the GNSSI,most of these training courses provide for practicalwork with various means and devices of physical pro-tection at a special training outdoor areas and labora-tories of the complex of technical facilities of physicalprotection.

During technical tour, the foreign guests visited spe-cialized training classrooms, training outdoor areasand laboratories of technical means of physical pro-tection.

Attention was drawn to a testing laboratory equippedwith modern equipment and measuring instrumentsthat allow testing special products with the requiredaccuracy, including in climatic conditions similar tothe climate of Bangladesh.

Snapshot

8

Snapshot

June 16, 2021

Energypac’s MarCom (Market-ing Communications) Depart-ment has recently won the “TheBest Marketing Department ofJAC Distributors” award at theJAC Overseas Brand Festival.

Energypac is the sole distributorof JAC Motors, a Chinese auto-mobile and commercial vehiclemanufacturer.

For years, Energypac has beendelivering world-class productsand services as an exclusive distributor of JAC Motors in this coun-try with phenomenal success.

Their thematic communications strategy has always played a sig-nificant role in the commercialization of JAC vehicles inBangladesh. Even during the pandemic, their strategy has paid off.

In recognition of such extensive strategic communication supportduring “JAC Global Confidence campaign 2021”, Energypac’sMarCom department has been honored with this award.

Inspired by the motto “better drive better life,” JAC motors hasbeen delivering on the brand vision by offering vehicle solutionstailored to local conditions for millions of users worldwide.

Energypac Wins Award at JACOverseas Brand Festival

Engr. Rukhsana Nazma Es-haque has been appointedManaging Director (MD) ofGas Transmission CompanyLimited (GTCL).

She is the first female MD ofGTCL and also first MD instate-owned energy sectorcompanies.

Rukhsana Nazma Eshaquehad joined the GTCL in 1995 and worked at gas grid op-eration, project implementation and planning division atGTCL with successfully before being promoted to MD fromgeneral manager.

The GTCL MD had completed her engineering from de-partment of chemical engineering under Bangladesh Uni-versity of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 1991.

GTCL Officers Welfare Association has congratulated thenewly appointed Managing Director Engr. RukhsanaNazma Eshaque and thanked Prime Minister for empow-ering women at GTCL.

Rukhsana’s husband Md Zakir Hossain is Chief Engineerof Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO).

Engr. Rukhsana First FemaleMD of GTCL

Bashundhara LP GasLtd will supply lique-fied petroleum gas(LPG) to the autogasstations of state-ownedJamuna Oil CompanyLtd apart from settingup pumps at the estab-lishments.

Both the companies signed an agreement to this end at a meetingheld at the Jamuna Bhaban in the capital recently.

Jamuna Oil Managing Director Md Gias Uddin Ansary and Head ofSales of Bashundhara LP Gas Jakaria Jalal inked the deal on behalf oftheir respective sides.

Autogas or LPG has become a unique source of environment-friendlyfuel and Bashundhara LP Gas will empower the autogas stations ofJamuna Oil with state-of-the-art services.

Jamuna Oil Managing Director Gias Uddin Ansary said autogas hasbecome a popular mode of fuel and Bashundhara LP Gas can fulfilthe local demand of environment-friendly energy through the part-nership.

Bashundhara LP Gas Head of Sales Jakaria Jalal briefed on the presentstate of services of the company at the meeting that focused on theimport process and supply chain management.

Bashundhara to Supply LPGto Jamuna Oil

A Chattogram courtrecently sent twohigh officials of Kar-naphuli Gas Distri-bution CompanyLimited (KGDCL) tojail over giving ille-gal gas connection

to different residential areas in the port city.

The court of Chattogram Metropolitan and Session Judge As-fakur Rahman sent them to jail as ACC officials producedthem before the court.

The Anti-Corruption Commission earlier arrested them fromcity’s Sholoshohor area in the case.

They are Md Sarowar Hossain, general manager of engineer-ing services, and Md Mojibur Rahman, manager of Fouj-darhat transmission branch of KGDCL.

The remaining three accused in the case are former GM Mo-hammad Ali Chowdhury, a technician and Mujibur Rahman,son of former minister Nurul Islam BSc, ACC deputy assistantdirector Md Sharif Uddin said.

2 KGDCL Officials Sent to Jailin ACC Case

9

Cover

June 16, 2021

Prime Minister SheikhHasina has instructed theauthorities concerned to

show zero tolerance in eliminat-ing illegal gas connections. Thistime, none would be spared iffound guilty during the discon-nection drive. It is also being ex-pected that stern actions wouldbe taken even against the gassector officials if involved in theprocess. If necessary, green sig-nals have also been given totransfer, give demotion and ter-minate whichever is appropriatefor such officials.

Anisur Rahman, Senior Secretary of theEnergy and Mineral Resources Division(EMRD), has warned the vested interestgroups of the stern actions the govern-ment is going to be taken against the il-legal gas connections that often causesevere accidents, killing people anddamaging properties.

He was addressing as chief guest at avirtual discussion on “Illegal Gas Con-nection: A Death Trap” on 5 June 2021.Energy & Power magazine in collabora-tion with M2K Technology and Tradingorganized the discussion as part of a se-ries titled “EP Talks”. EP Editor MollahAmzad Hossain moderated the discus-sion.

Taking part in the discussion, speakersappreciated the present disconnectiondrive in the Titas Gas franchise areawhich is considered to be much moreintensive than ever before. They men-tioned that such well-coordinated oper-ation was not observed before. If itcould have been done earlier, such vul-nerable condition of the gas distributionnetwork could be avoided. Some of thespeakers, however, pointed out that themere disconnection drive would not beenough to cure this nuisance. Extensivedemand for cooking fuel force the usersto fall in trap of the evil syndicate. Theysuggested going for careful resumptionof domestic connections through in-stalling prepaid meters.The LPG and LNG are bothimported fuel. Not supply-ing gas for cooking wouldleave the countrywidewell-spread distributionnetworks underutilized. Itwill not be a smart decisionthey observed and recom-mended resuming connec-tions under intensivevigilance.

Mr. Anisur Rahman saidthe mistake was committedin 1964 during the com-mencement of business op-

eration of Titas Gas. It was then decidedto provide gas supply to the domesticconsumers in Dhaka city. Now it hasbecome extremely difficult to come outof the cheaper and easily available fuel.The greatest headache is in Narayan-ganj. Main concerns are in the franchise

areas of Titas Gas Transmission and Dis-tribution Company Limited (TGDCL)and Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Com-pany Limited (BGDCL). In BGDCL, theworst areas are Brahmanbaria, Chand-pur, Feni, Chandina and Daudkandi.We have decided to suspend the gas

connections temporarily to all con-sumers downstream of specific DRSwhere the illegal use of gas is severe.After weeding out the illegal connec-tions, we will reconnect legal users witha note of regret. Many high-rise build-ings have been constructed dependingon the pipelines in Keraniganj area.However, the government will soonlaunch operation there as well.

He said the government is expediting in-stallation of prepaid meters and is ex-pected to bring all legal domestic usersunder prepaid metering system by 2022.Around 500,000 meters have alreadybeen installed. BGDCL is providing150,000, Pashchimanchal Gas Com-pany Limited (PGCL) has already pro-vided 100,000 and another 60,000 areunder process of installation. The gov-ernment is aware of the EVC meters of

industries as well as meter bypassingand tampering. The government wantedto physically check these, but the out-break of coronavirus has impeded it.“We are getting too many complaints.None will be spared … I can assure youall. We have received the green signal

from the highest authority.We want to see the end ofit.”

He said that he does notbelieve that all the gas sec-tor officials are clean. Hesaid that such unholy actscannot grow to such enor-mous proposition withoutthe active involvement ofskilled professionals. Theactions would not be con-fined to transfer only, de-partmental actions,criminal investigationsand even terminations

10June 16, 2021

Maqbul­E­Elahi ChowdhuryAnisur Rahman

SCAN THE QR CODETO WATCH FULL TALKS

from job whichever is appropriatewould be considered. The secretary ofa ministry rarely signs such order. “But Ihave myself typed some orders main-taining secrecy. Some more unpleasantactions would be taken soon. Therewould not be any respite for the mis-chief mongers however strongly con-nected they might be.”

While disconnecting the gas lines, itwas found that some consumers did notpay any bill for around 20 years. In thiscase, the consumers cannot be blamed.TGTDCL officers did not take any initia-tive for bills collection. I have seenmany valves of the system are corroded.While checking we found no sparevalves in the stores. We cannot believethat a minimum level of storage was notmaintained for such essential materials.DPM would take at least 6 months.Over the last 4-5 TGTDCL board meet-ings, we have given approvals for pro-curement of such essential materials. Acertain level of such materials must bestored all the time. None of the parlia-ment member or the ruling party leaderscalled me about the disconnection op-eration over the past few moths. It is ahealthy sign. The PM has advised toshow zero tolerance. After Eid-ul-Fitr,we have disconnected about 72,000 il-legal lines. I went to highest level fordiscussion about resumption of domes-tic connections. But the response wasnegative. Even the pipeline gas supplyto the apartments of ministers and sec-retaries were not allowed. Gas isstranded in Bhola, but domestic con-nection is not allowed there too.

The Senior Secretary mentioned thatsystematic work schedule for BAPEX till2023 has been finalized. Stranded gasat Bhola cannot be evacuated at thisstage to the national grid. A new gasstructure has been explored where thebottom hole initial pressure is about6,000 PSI. DST is now being done. Weare expecting a significant reserve there.There are some grey areas in BAPEX op-

eration. These were created before Ijoined. Would not like to discuss. In 60months of time, we added 10 MMCFDadditional gas from some workovers.The GIS would be in operation in TFAby 2023. One has to be groping in thedark to locate Titas pipeline for detect-ing a leakage. Large areas need excava-tion. We are going to revive digitalmapping as well soon. We are not keep-ing our fingers crossed. Such a huge TFAhas almost become unmanageable.

Time has come to bifurcate or multifurcate TFA operation. I have ad-vised the TGTDCL and Petrobanglato work on it. Decision would betaken soon through discussion withthe relevant stakeholders.

Engr Khondkar Abdus Saleque, formerDirector of GTCL having long experi-ence of working with TGTDCL, BGSLand JGDSL, mentioned that aPetrobangla committee, headed by him,

11June 16, 2021

Ali Ahmed Khan Abdul Aziz KhanAli Iqbal Md. Nurullah

Haronur Rashid MullahEasir Arafat Khan Khondkar Abdus Saleque

Nasir UddinShankar Mazumder Abdul Mannan Patwary

suggested in 2002 for tri-furcating TFAinto three companies and BGSL intotwo. Following that, BGSL has been di-vided into KGDCL and BGDCL. ForTitas, the proposal was Naryanganj andNarshindi into one company, DhakaMetro and Manikganj one company,Gazipur and greater Mymensingh athird company. If the government wants,it can review that recommendation. TheSenior Secretary agreed to take decisionon it after holding discussions at differ-ent policy levels.

Maqbul E Elahi Chowdhury, Member(Gas) of BERC and former Director ofPetrobangla, observed that until the il-legal use of gas is eliminated, the illegalconnections cannot be stopped. Gasand power cannot be stored. Till 1993-94, the Energy and Power Divisionswere merged under MPEMR. The sys-tem loss of power was as high as 49%and gas was 27%. Through better man-agement, the power system loss hasbeen reduced to single digit. ThoughPetrobangla talks about reduction in gassystem loss, the actual loss is muchhigher than what is being told.

On the flat rate of unmetered connec-tions, Tk 975 is being realized for a dou-ble burner through arbitrarily assessingabout 78 cubic meter gas use. But inmetered connections, it has beenproved that not more than 45-50 cubicmeter is actually being used. This faultyassessment created opportunity for hid-ing massive gas theft. About 15% illegalgas use is there in industries also. Someusers again are paying 15% more thanactual use. The EVC meters have beeninstalled under a project. But bills arenot being made according to the read-ing of the EVC meters.

In Singapore, once there was 56% sys-tem loss in water system. Through Zonalisolation they have brought it down sig-nificantly. In the AGM of TGTDCL in2007-08, as shareholder I proposed forzoning of TFA for better management. Ifit was approved, by now the illegal gas

use could be brought under control.Around 80% of the illegal gas use couldbe instantaneously detected if deodor-ant (THT) was used at prescribed dozesin the distribution networks.

The BERC Member said that a letter hasbeen sent to the EMRD for finalizingspecifications of the prepaid meter. Butno response has been received yet. Ac-tion should be taken as soon as possibleon the BERC letter. Checking the detailspecifications and track records of use,any of the existing EVC meters can beapproved as prepaid meter. Customerswould be greatly benefited if all gas usecan be brought under prepaid meteringsystem as soon as possible.

Mr. Maqbul expressed concern that thepath that the MD of TGTDCL is follow-ing for eliminating illegal gas use is haz-ardous and extremely risky. Achievingsuccess would not be easy at all.

Engr. Ali Iqbal Mohammad Nurullah,Managing Director of TGTDCL, saidthat illegal gas use has spread like can-cer over the system. We have been in-structed to eliminate this by any means.These have mushroomed since 2010following the official suspension of gasconnection. It has almost gone beyondcontrol of TGTDCL and EMRD now. Wehave seen that illegal gas lines havebeen extended up to 40-50 from the ter-mination points of our formal distribu-tion networks. In some places evenbranch off has been made by settingvalves. It has come to our notice thatpersons having knowledge of thepipelines and connected with gas distri-bution have been involved in evil syn-dicates. Gas contractors are alsoinvolved. We have blacklisted several ofthem. In some areas, the people’s repre-sentatives have reportedly advised fortaking illegal connections through an-nouncement with microphones. Thesyndicate is very powerful. Our teamhad to encounter serious resistance insome places. The syndicate recon-nected after we disconnected in some

areas. Even from 140 PSI lines, illegalconnections have been taken amid se-rious risks. The injections of RLNG in-creased pressures of distribution main.Accidents from such high pressure sys-tem triggered some colossal damages.Low grade cast iron, GI pipes and sub-standard fittings have been used. Thesehave spread from house to house. Weare doing as much as possible now tostem the rot. But I am not at all happy.Connections have been given indiscrim-inately. The illegal connections are nowfound wide spread. In some places, theyare filling balloons with gas and laterusing the gas in the burners. We havedisconnected few times, but they recon-nected again. The PM has clearly in-structed to disconnect even legal usersif required in the weeding out processof illegal use. In one location, there are19 legal users but 40 villages are usinggas illegally. We have removed thevalve. From Lakkhankhola DRS, illegalline has been laid to several villages. Wehave suspended supply from the DRS.Some legal users are suffering. We willreconnect them after eliminating the il-legal use. I am surprised finding thatpeople consider the illegal use as theirright. For 1.5 MMSCF gas use, we getbill for 0.5 MMSCF only. Rest is beingillegally used. There exist about 2,500illegal users who have never paid anybill. They have threatened to burn ouroffice if we disconnect. We have notbulged. Someone has to take the risk.Narayanganj gas network has becomeextremely vulnerable. It is not possibleto estimate the exact number of illegalusers now. We are losing revenue of 60-70 MMCFD gas now from Narayanganjalone.

The disconnection drive needs due pri-ority attention for complete elimination.Bangladesh is paying through its nosefor LNG purchase. Still syndicates aremaking merry from illegal connections.It hurts us. The combined operationmust be continued by any means. TGT-DCL has good teams. They lacked lead-

12June 16, 2021

ership. Those who were scared beforeare now daring to do it.

We are working to revive digital map-ping. GIS and SCADA would be there.We have already installed 300,000 pre-paid meters and another 9 lakhs arebeing installed. We are carrying out fea-sibility study for prepaid meters for com-mercial users also. We are also workingon upgrading the Dhaka City distribu-tion networks.

Engr Khondkar Abdus Saleque, Inter-national Energy Consultant and Con-tributing Editor of EP, connecting fromMelbourne in Australia, suggestedgoing for intensive combing operationeven if it is necessary to temporarilysuspend the gas supply. If that meanssuspending gas supply for 2-3months, that should be done. Besidesdigital mapping, he suggested anothermodern method of smart sensing. Forthat, in new areas or when old distri-bution lines are replaced, fiber opticcables should be laid along the linesfor centralized monitoring.

It will be extremely difficult to elimi-nate illegal use through completelykeeping legal new connections sus-pended. In new areas where system isfresh, new connections can be givenunder prepaid metering system. Chat-togram distribution system is betterdesigned. Still there are allegations ofillegal use by the industrial con-sumers.

Brig General (Rtd) Ali Ahmed Khan,former Director General of Fire Serv-ice and Civil Defense and Disasterand Emergency Risk Managementspecialist, pointed out that several gasaccidents have so far occurred. En-quiry committees are formed, but thereports are not made public. We havenoticed that at Banani, Uttara andKeraniganj, gas has entered housesthrough creating leakages in thelegally connected lines. Even thelegal users are now in great risks. No

standard codes are being followed ingas pipeline construction. Echoingwith Mr. Saleque, he said earthquakecan trigger greater disaster for leakinggas pipelines. Old, badly corrodedpipelines must be identified, aban-doned and, if necessary, replaced.Liver system that cost about Tk 1,000can be used to detect leaking oldlines. All domestic risers should beleak-tested.

Abdul Aziz Khan, former Member ofBERC and former MD of TGTDCL,said it seems that eliminating the ille-gal use is the main focus of the pres-ent government now. One speakerhere has suggested resuming domesticsupply of the piped gas. We havenoted that LNG and LPG now beingused are both imported fuel. Thereexists infrastructure for LNG supply.Small district towns have no issues.Critical situation is there in big cities.TGTDCL, KGDCL and BGDCL wouldstruggle managing illegal gas use ifdomestic connections are resumedagain. I do not think resumptions ofpipeline supply of gas for domesticuse would affect the LPG business.They can target mostly areas outsidethe gas franchise. Disconnection isnot sole solution. I am not in favor ofextending gas pipeline in new areasany further. LPG should be the pre-ferred fuel there. TGTDCL area ishuge. With limited officials, it will beextremely challenging to manage thehuge distribution network and polic-ing illegal use.

Dr. Md. Easir Arafat Khan of ChemicalEngineering Department at BUET saidthe pipeline gas is methane. It can easilycatch fire and cause accidents if leakedirrationally. In confined areas, it ex-plodes creating explosive mixture. It hashappened several times causing dam-age to life and property. Proper stan-dards are not being maintained inpipeline construction and operation.Some 722 fire incidents took place from

gas leakage in 2020. Any of these couldbring disastrous consequences. The in-cident at Chttogram in 2019 killed apedestrian from wall collapse due to gasblowout. The gas network must main-tain system integrity. There must be risksassessment and risk management proto-cols. We heard that reports of gas leak-age were made at Narayanganj mosque.But why that could not be addressed ontime to save 34 victims?

Harunur Rashid Mollah, MD of JGDSL,said that the company so far witnessedno such incident of long illegal pipelineextension. We could successfully resistsuch tendency. But there exist someburners not approved for using. He sug-gested for enhancing the rate of penaltyfor discouraging this.

Shankar Majumdar MD of BGDCL, saidthere exits significantly huge number ofillegal connections in BGDCL. Follow-ing my posting, I made a crash programand launched operation since Septem-ber 2020. We carried out 52 programsso far and disconnected a large numbersof illegal users. So far 14,402 illegalusers have been disconnected and 72kilometers illegal pipeline has been re-moved.

Abdul Mannan Patwary, MD of PGCL,said 85% of its gas is being used forpower generation. There is no inci-dent of illegal gas connections. Butsome legal consumers are using gas il-legally. Domestic users are using gasfor commercial purpose. We are deal-ing with them as per the gas act.

Syed Mohammad Nasiruddin, MD ofSundarban Gas Distribution CompanyLimited (SGDCL), said 99% of its gasis used for power generation. Thereare few domestic and commercialconsumers. The company could notyet identify any illegal use of gas. Wecarry out surveys every 3 months. Wehave so far found one or two illegallines and immediately disconnectedhose.

13June 16, 2021

EP

The vast areas of Titas Gas fran-chise in Dhaka city and its ad-jacent Narayanganj are now

sitting on sleeping volcanoes. Naturalgas is getting leaked from hundreds ofthousands of pits and cracks origi-nated from illegal connections andcausing frequent accidents due tocreating explosive mixtures in con-fined spaces. Methane is escaping inthe atmosphere as GHG and mixingwith other emissions to make Dhakaa heat chamber. The most concerningpart is that in case of a mild tomedium earthquake, the Dhaka andNarayanganj cities could turn intotowering Infernos.

Experts expressed the concern in anEP Talk titled “Illegal Gas Connection— A Death Trap” held recently. Theysaid the situation has become reallydangerous in the areas under TitasGas Transmission and DistributionCompany Limited (TGTDCL), Karna-phuli Gas Distribution Company Lim-ited (KGDCL) and Bakhrabad GasDistribution Company Limited(BGDCL). Other companies havemuch limited numbers of connectionand limited distribution areas. Hencethe situation is more or less undercontrol. The experts have suggestedcarrying out comprehensive opera-tion for eliminating such nuisance.

This write up would attempt to diginto the crux of the menace and sug-gest some short, medium and longterm measures for addressing and ar-resting this contentious issue.

Such situation has not been created

overnight. Years of negligence andunprofessional vision of Petrobanglaand Energy and Mineral ResourcesDivision (EMRD) as well as some im-mature policy decision have led tothe situation that went almost beyondcontrol. It is not only that hundredsand thousands of illegal connectionsare there, but also thousand kilome-ters of illegal pipelines are beingfound alone in the Titas system. Thegovernment is losing revenue, in onehand. But on the other hand, the gasaccidents were causing deaths andproperty losses more frequently in thepresent day. The gas distribution sys-tem has really become a death trap.An unholy, evil syndicate comprisingof gas sector corrupt officials, gaspipeline contractors, plumbers, tech-nicians and political activists havemade it extremely challenging for thegas companies and the EMRD tosmoothly operating disconnectiondrives. There is no other option nowbut to eliminate this nuisance.

Illegal Gas Connection It could be otherwise termed as ille-gal use of gas or theft and pilferage,which existed to some extent in Titassystem from mid-1980s. Now it grewinto a menace in Narayanganj,Gazipur, Tongi and Narshingdi areas.Several fatal accidents in TFA origi-nating from illegal connections couldnot aware TGTDCL and Petrobangla.The gas pilferage started emergingduring the time of the then BGSL inearly 1990s. At the early stage, it wasdifficult for mischief mongers to stealgas due to better system design by

BGSL — the illegal connections couldbe identified and disconnectedpromptly. The Chattogram city, cen-tering Faujdarhat City Gate Station, issurrounded by intermediate pressurecity ring main. Gas is fed to city from5 strategically located high pressureDistrict Regulating Stations (DRS).Bulk Consumers like power, fertilizerand others were connected throughrespective CMSs. Some 17 intermedi-ate DRSs fed the distribution systemfor other consumers. If these regulat-ing stations could be operated as de-signed, gas use in Chottogramfranchise area could be effectivelymonitored. Unfortunately, this wasnot done and gradually illegal use ofgas grew like mushrooms. The situa-tion in Nasirabad, Kalurghat, Halisha-har and Chittagong EPZ areas,according to many, has grown into apanic.

Theft and pilferage grew into panic inBGDCL and KGDCL even after divid-ing BGSL operation into the two com-panies. In BGDCL, the areas of gastheft are Chandpur, Cumilla, Choud-dogram and Feni. Jalalabad andPGCL have comparatively lessernumber of consumers. Although thereexist some cases of illegal use of gas,the systems are more or less undercontrol. SGDCL has just started oper-ation. By far the greatest trouble is inthe TFA.

In addition to illegal connections,metered customers using varioustechniques of meter-bypassing also il-legally using gas. It started increasingfrom 2001 after the change of gov-

Cities Sitting onCities Sitting on

‘Sleeping Volcano’‘Sleeping Volcano’Cities Sitting on

‘Sleeping Volcano’Saleque Sufi

15

Cover Article

June 16, 2021

ernment, and between 2002-2006, itstarted causing headache. By 2006,the evil nexus cornered the honest of-ficials while taking actions againstthe dishonest ones of the sector be-came extremely difficult.

In a presentation by the TGDCL Man-aging Director recently at a virtualconference, which was also partici-pated by Senior Secretary EMRD (alsoChairman of TGTDCL Board), Mem-ber (gas) BERC, the following obser-vations were made:

•Domestic gas connection sus-pended in 2010;

•Domestic connection resumedwithout extending distribution linesin 2013;

•Domestic gas connection sus-pended again in 2016.

We are aware that for failure ofPetrobangla in carrying out required gasexploration since 2000, proven reserveof gas showed alarming depletion. Thegovernment without making provisionfor availability of alternative, competi-tive fuel, irrationally took decision onsuspension of domestic connection.After completing necessary formalities,hundreds of consumers in different gasfranchises were waiting for connec-tions. At that time, the LPG business didnot flourish and LPG was more thantwice the cost of pipeline gas. As a re-sult, illegal connections started mush-rooming. The nexus started developing.There was no reason for resuming do-mestic gas connection again and tryingto legalize illegal connections between2013 and 2016. In fact, during this pe-riod, illegal gas use became as obnox-ious as coronavirus. Again in 2016,domestic connection was suspendedand by then extensive damage wasdone. The mafia syndicate became soinfluential that there are credible alle-gations they could promote and postsenior gas officials at important posi-tions. The honest, sincere ones of thegas companies were cornered.

What were the Other StrategicMistakes?For proper monitoring and manage-

ment of distribution network, TGT-DCL implemented digital mapping.An operational digital map couldcentrally monitor that something wasgoing wrong in the distribution sys-tem and automatically shut down thenetwork valves. TGTDCL board per-haps did not approve a proposal toexpand and keep digital mapping op-erational sometime in 2006 or 2007.It is not, however, sure whether theTGTDCL did regular leakage surveyof distribution networks and use THT(deodorant) in prescribed frequency.So, TGTDCL either deliberately ordue to ignorance lost control over itsdistribution networks. All these gavegeneral license to the obnoxious syn-dicates to rampage distribution sys-tem with illegal gas use.Unfortunately, the authorities con-cerned did not even take into cogni-gence the recommendations of theenquiry committees formed afterevery gas accident. The Titas board ischaired by the Secretary of EMRDand manned by Chairman ofPetrobangla, Chairman of BPDB,Chairman of BCIC and representativeof Prime Minister’s Office, amongothers. Such a strong board could nottake required actions over the yearsto eliminate the nuisance. Titas man-agement and board members, espe-cially from 2010 to 2021, cannot

deny the responsibility of the presentunpalatable situation. When the situ-ation has gone almost beyond con-trol, the EMRD and gas system seniorpolicymakers have come out of hiber-nation. But it is never too late pro-vided the actions remain relentlessand sustainable.

Launching ComprehensiveDisconnection Drives Comprehensive disconnection drivesand all out actions against delinquentcustomers was launched for over ayear now after bringing changes inthe top management of the gas com-panies and gathered momentum overthe past 6 months. Needless mention-ing that some major gas accidentshappened in Dhaka, Chattogram andother areas of gas franchise mainlyfrom illegal use of gas. The worst ofall was at Tallabag Mosque inNarayanganj that caused 37 deathsdue to gas burns. Narayanganj andRupganj were identified as the epi-center of illegal gas use.

The culprits through their illegal ac-tions seriously affected the cathodicprotection system of the buriedpipelines. Consequently, the corro-sion and erosions have developedthousands of leakages in the system.Methane emitting through such leak-ages spreading into the atmosphere,

16June 16, 2021

A huge balloon is being filled with natural gas through connecting a plastic pipe illegally. The gas wouldlater be used allegedly elsewhere, posing high risk of accidents

causing GHG emission and con-tributing to rising temperature inDhaka. The leaked gas accumulatedin the confined spaces (kitchen etc.)formed explosive mixtures and cre-ated major accidents. The gas crimi-nals used substandard welding, lowquality GI pipes and fittings. Theyeven tapped high pressure distribu-tion mains. In some areas, severalKilometers of illegal pipelines wereconstructed especially in Narayan-ganj and Rupganj areas, making thesystem extremely vulnerable.

The TGTDCL MD’s presentation atthe virtual seminar evidenced thatfrom 112 disconnection operationsover the past 6 months alone, some184,044 domestic, 130 commercialand one industrial illegal connectionshave been disconnected. Some 335kilometers of illegal pipelines havebeen removed. One can guess if thisis the situation in one area only, whatis the state of the entire gas franchise.

What Went Wrong?We have already mentioned that lackof proper follow up with the digitalmapping operation of Titas franchisewas a great mistake. The unholy ac-cess to the gas distribution networkcould be better monitored if that wasdone and digital mapping could bemade operational. We are not surewhether the distribution network isregularly odorized (using THT in pre-scribed quantity) as gas is odorless. Ifdone so, leakages could be easilyidentified. There was a provision forpatrolling live gas pipelines, mainlythe distribution mains. Regular pa-trolling of distribution mains could po-lice such unholy acts. All these willfulmistakes have led the situation grow-ing to such a situation. It is unfortunatethat the senior gas sector officials didnot bring all these to the attention ofthe company board and EMRD.

Way Forward Now that the disconnection operationhas been intensified and it must con-tinue till the last incidence of illegalgas use is identified and completelyeliminated. If necessary in the worst

affected section, the gas supply to theentire area can remain suspended tillall illegal connections are weededout. Legal customers can be compen-sated or temporarily supplied withLPG. However, along side of checkingdomestic and commercial misuse, theCustomer Metering Stations of indus-trial customers must also come undervigorous checking for alleged metertampering and bypassing.

The distribution networks must beodorized and leaks surveyed at regu-lar frequencies. Digital mapping proj-ects must be taken up as soon aspossible in all gas distribution areas.

It has come to the knowledge thatunder CDM project, a Bangladeshicompany is carrying out leakage sur-vey at limited scale of risers in TGT-DCL, KGDCL, PGCL and JGDCLsaved about 40 MMCFD of gas. Thissurvey must continue.

For sustainable benefits, SCADA andTelemetry must be introduced inphases. Smart sensing is another au-tomation device that can also be in-troduced in new franchise like PGCLand SGDCL laying fiber optic cablesalong the pipelines and monitoringsystem digitally from control centers.

It can also be suggested to engage pa-trolmen in distribution mains if nec-essary through outsourcing forpolicing the distribution networks.

Finally, as has been gathered from re-liable sources that the governmentmay not again resume pipeline gassupply to domestic consumers, willsuch disparity be sustainable? Somefortunate people in the gas franchisewould enjoy cheaper pipeline gaswhile vast majority in rest of thecountry would have to pay muchhigher price for LPG. Why not at leastin gas franchise, domestic consumersget pipeline gas through prepaid me-ters? Before making LPG price truelycompetitive with pipeline gas, it willbe unkind to leave the vast majorityof people across Bangladesh withoutpipeline gas. The present situation ofgas crisis has been created for the

failure of Petrobangla and EMRD inexploring and developing gas re-sources on time. The illegal gas usehas become a huge issue for failuresof gas sector officials in taking rightactions at the right time. For this, thevast majority of potential gas usersmust not be punished. The delin-quent industrial consumers are thegreater culprits.

Distribution Companies Must beRestructuredTGTDCL operating in greater Dhakaand Mymensingh regions has growntoo big to manage centrally. In 2003,there was a proposal by a Petrobanglacommittee to divide TGTDCL into threecompanies and BGSL into two. Whilethe action was taken for BGSL creatingKGDCL and BGDCL, it could not bedone for TGDCL. Only Brahmanbariahas been handed over to BGDCL. Theproposal was Company One: Narayan-ganj, Mushiganj and Nashingdi; Com-pany Two: Dhaka Metropolis,Manikganj and Gazipur; and CompanyThree: Tangail, Mymensingh (IncludingKishoreganj and Jamalpur). Each ofthese companies would be larger thaneven Jalalabad and SDGCL in terms ofvolume of gas sales.

Conclusion The illegal use of gas is depriving thegovernment of huge revenue. Thecountry cannot afford this as highly ex-pensive LNG is being imported now formanaging the deficit. In future, evenown gas from new discoveries wouldnot be as cheaper as it is now. More-over, the gas franchise especially inDhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla and Sylhethave really become death traps for di-lapidated leaking gas distribution net-works. Moreover, being in earthquakezone, these networks made cities vul-nerable to dangers like ‘sleeping volca-noes’. Any mild to medium tremor canturn these cities into towering infernos.We hope that the suggested remedialactions would be taken without anydelay.

Saleque Sufi;Contributing Editor

17June 16, 2021

EP

Bangladesh is apprehended to beheading towards a chronic gascrisis. So, the country now des-

perately needs to launch appropriateplanning-based exploration campaignfor discovering new resources. Thelow-hanging fruits from structural trapsof eastern region have already been ex-plored. Exploration from tight strati-graphic traps of South Western regionmay be relatively challenging. Acquisi-tion of more data through planned 2Dand 3D seismic surveys and prepara-tion of data bank is needed. Without adata bank and attractive incentives,major IOCs would not be interested inrisk investments. Local investors maybe given opportunities for working injoint venture with BAPEX under an ap-propriate policy.

Experts at a virtual seminar titled “On-shore Hydrocarbon Exploration inSouth-Western Bangladesh: WhatNeed to Do?” on 29 May 2021 madethe observations. Energy and Powermagazine in collaboration with M2KTechnology and Trading organized theevent as part of a series titled “EPTalks”. EP Editor Mollah Amzad Hos-sain moderated the discussion.

Participating in the discussion as chiefguest, former Chairman of Petrobanglaand BPC Muqtadir Ali observed thatdata and information presented abouthydrocarbon prospects in South West-ern region can be the stepping stones,but perhaps these would not beenough. We are not sure if BAPEX hasenough data at this moment. BAPEXhas never been provided with requiredfinancial assistance to carry forward in-

tensive exploration campaign. If a cer-tain allocation is made in nationalbudget every year for hydrocarbon ex-ploration, that can be effectively uti-lized without making any wastage. Inexploration works, one cannot predictrate of return on investment. If one ortwo commercial gas finds from few ex-plorations, it would pay back the riskinvestment. BAPEX should be allowedto work with freedom like IOCs in thatcircumstance. BAPEX should be allo-cated a fixed budget for carrying out

exploration activity in the difficult andrisky areas like stratigraphic traps anddeeper horizon where success maycome or may not. Otherwise, if BAPEXidentifies some structures based on itsown acquired 2D and 3D seismic data,the discovered resource would behanded over to IOCs for exploration.Protracted decision-making process isan impediment to exploration work in

Bangladesh. Whenever the policymak-ers sense some uncertainties over therate of return, they rush for quick fixeslike LNG import. If we offer the samegas price in Model PSC, many IOCswould be interested to risk investmentfor exploration in Bangladesh.

Mr. Muqtadir observed that the possi-bility of joint venture has been dis-cussed in the seminar. But no majorIOCs would be interested at this mo-ment. With enough attractive data andinformation they can be allured as theywould only put risk investment if thereare some possibilities of gaining profitsagainst the investment. The gas price isanother major issue. We are not evenoffering what our neighbors are provid-ing. Such price acts as a disincentiveand discourages the IOCs. Encourag-ing incentive package needs to be of-fered as they will only come incommercially win-win situations.There have been talks about local part-ners. But we need policy for that.

Petrobangla’s own production compa-nies may not survive long from the wayBangladesh is leaning towards im-ported LNG. Petrobangla failed even toinitiate offshore exploration in adecade. It is a major failure. There is awrong mindset about IOCs among pol-icymakers. They want to restrict accesswhen major companies offer to work insome offshore blocks at the same time.

EP ReportEP R t

Thrust on PragmaticExploration Planning

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Special Report

June 16, 2021

SCAN THE QR CODETO WATCH FULL TALKS

They hesitate from the mindset that alleggs should not be put in one basket.But IOCs propose after carrying outpreliminary risk analysis and some fea-sibilities matching with company riskprofile. Because of such mindset of pol-icymakers, some opportunities have al-ready been lost for engaging IOCs inoffshore exploration. Major IOCs won’tcome to Bangladesh without attractiveincentive package and rational gaspricing formula.

Engr. Khondkar Saleque Sufi, Interna-tional Energy Consultant and Con-tributing Editor of EP, connecting fromMelbourne, Australia, said that therehas been no doubt about hydrocarbonprospect of Bengal basin, but only 88exploration wells in prospective river-ine basin over 120 years is way too fewto even think about Bangladesh run-ning out of gas resource. True that low-hanging fruits from anticline ofstructural traps of eastern region havebeen mostly picked. Now for explo-ration in deeper prospects and rela-tively difficult folded stratigraphic trapsof South Western region, we needplanned exploration campaign basedon required data and information, andappropriate policy.

BAPEX has the required technical re-sources and if necessary can hire nec-essary experts as and when required.The present COVID situation may notattract major IOCs to partnering withBAPEX in Bangladesh. A policy likePrivate Sector Power Policy can be for-mulated for attracting local interestedinvestors to form JV with BAPEX. At-tractive data package can be preparedfor frontier areas of onshore especiallyof the South Western region by utilizingthe BAPEX’s capacity in 2D and 3Dseismic survey. Then this joint venturecan go for exploration by engaging re-puted international drilling contractorsalongside BAPEX and third party serv-ices.

Mortuza Ahmad Faruque Chisty, for-mer Managing Director of BAPEX, in-formed that German GeologicalAdvisor Group (GGAG), Hydrocarbon

Habitat Study, Bangladesh StudyGroup, have carried out extensiveworks in the South Western region.BAPEX in 2017-18 carried out 2,000line km 2D seismic survey. A numberof leads and prospects have been iden-tified from these. BAPEX has plannedto drill a well at Shariatpur structure.The discovery in Bhola has combinedtrap of both structural and stratigraphicnature. But not much works has beendone in North Western and SouthWestern parts of Bangladesh. From1959 till now, only 6 exploration wellshave been drilled. 4 of the 6 evidencedsome prospects. Gas shows were thereat Kuchma, Singra and Mubarakpur.Oil shows was there at Bogura duringdrilling. Oil has been discovered at ouradjacent West Bengal in Ashoknagar.This has brightened the prospect of dis-covering hydrocarbon in our prospectsas well. Apart from this, it has now be-come essential for drilling more wellswithout delays at Chittagong Hill Tractsregion. Mortuza said, we have brightprospects of discovering gas at My-mensingh and Netrakona areas. BAPEXshould form JV with reputed interna-

tional companies for exploration inhigher risk and deeper structures suchas some of the identified stratigraphictraps in the south western region toavoid dry hole risk, financial risk andconsidering difficulties to drill in highpressure zone. The government agen-cies should provide financial and pol-icy support to BAPEX for carrying outexploration drilling in the south-west-ern region. Finally, given emphasis onaggressive exploration efforts is neces-sary to add new gas reserve in thecountry.

AM Monowar Ahmed, former Consult-ant of BAPEX, underlined the need fordeveloping a working model for explo-ration works in the North Western re-gion. The works must be brought underone framework. The existing data mustbe intensively reviewed. The ODI hasworked in Jashore area and there existssignificant data. BAPEX has alreadyachieved success of drilling in strati-graphic trap. The Bhola North discov-ery is in such a trap. BAPEX has rightlyplanned for next drilling location atShariatpur. Gas prospects were identi-

20June 16, 2021

A H M Shamsudddin Khondkar Abdus Saleque Muqtadir Ali

Newas Khalis AhmedMortuza Ahmad Faruque A M Manowar Ahmed

fied in two wells at Muladi. There is nodearth of technical expertise, knowl-edge and efficiency in BAPEX. Butthere exists some deficiency in workculture. Geophysical teams have notbeen developed. They must further de-velop skills of source identification andrisks analysis.

Khalish Newas Ahmed, independ-ent hydrocarbon consultant, fromCalgary, Canada, made a presenta-tion on his works. He mentionedthat there exist great possibility forfinding oil and gas in Rajbari,Faridpur, Madaripur and Gopalganjareas. There is a prospect at 4,200-4,500 meters deep at Rajbari. Thepotential structure goes deeper aswe move south. Potential oil struc-ture lies about 6,000 meters deepat Madaripur. Khalish in his worksover few years has identified hy-drocarbon prospect in one third ofthe unexplored onshore area ofBangladesh. It may be spread overwider areas. These are stratigraphictraps. We need to ac-quire more data beforeconducting exploration.We need logging datafound in exploration ofMobarakpur and otherareas in South WesternRegion. Without an ex-tensive database, explo-ration companies cannotbe attracted in makingrisk investments. Indiahas discovered oil fromtraps adjacent toBangladesh. We alsohave some similar traps.

Khalis appraised the meet-ing that most of the hydro-carbon reserves discoveredin Bangladesh are withinthe structural anticlinaltraps. Many producersaround the world producehydrocarbon from strati-graphic traps. Basin analysisand depositional environ-ment interpretation are the

keys to explore stratigraphic traps. Heexpected to conduct further researchand data interpretation focusing onthose areas in Rajbari, Faridpur andMadaripur by BAPEX. He recom-mended that further sequence strati-graphic evaluation of these areas may

be carried out to determine optimumexploratory well locations. Drilling ofexploratory wells in the mentionedareas may open an opportunity to findout gas discovery in that area.

AHM Shamsuddin, former Chief Ge-ologist UNOCAL andCHEVRON Bangladesh,connecting from Houston,USA, said that strati-graphic trap exists almostall over Bangladesh. Wehave to target first wherewe may get greater re-ward. South Western re-gion has exploration risks.Available data are notenough. Most of these are2D information. We haveto set priorities where togo first. We have to domore Seismic data acquisi-tion before going for ex-ploration in South Westernregion. There has to be 3Dseismic surveys. Have wealready exhausted gasfrom our discovered fields?

Mr. Shamsuddin suggestedgoing for immediate reser-voir study. Bangladesh hasprospects across entirecountry. But we must setpriority in exploration operation. EP

21June 16, 2021

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The proven recoverable reserve ofnatural gas is fast depleting. Since2000, the bureaucracy-dominated

Petrobangla failed to carry out requiredminimum exploration at onshore andoffshore for discovering new hydrocar-bon resources. Petrobangla-owned ex-ploration and production companyBAPEX has not been developed tochampion the exploration activities inonshore areas. Petrobangla did not alsolet out any new PSC for exploration inonshore for over 20 years. Inept man-agement of Petrobangla could not facil-itate required exploration campaign inthe offshore even though Bangladeshacquired huge area in the Bay of Bengal(almost the size of Bangladesh) throughsuccessful resolution of maritimeboundary disputes with Myanmar andIndia. The existing Covid-19 pandemicmay not let Bangladesh go for fresh bid-ding round soon in the offshore as riskprofiles of major IOCs in hydrocarbonexploration has been significantlychanged. The government is also not ina position to invest in BAPEX’s explo-ration initiatives. In the present admin-istrative set up, it is also almostimpossible for BAPEX to grow and sur-vive as an exploration company. But thereality is that the proven reserve is fastdepleting. The government is wellaware that the remaining recoverablereserve at the present rate of use maycompletely deplete by 2031 if not re-plenished by major discoveries in themeantime. The production capacity hasalready fallen below 2500 MMCFD andmany apprehend that it may drop below2000 MMCFD by 2023. There is hardlyany possibility to add new imported

LNG beyond 800 MMCFD before 2025even if work on land-based LNG termi-nal starts in 2021. How Petrobangla isgoing to manage the gas supply to allthe presently connected consumers(power, fertilizer and industries)?

Is Bangladesh Really Running Outof Gas? In a gas prone riverine delta, only 88 ex-ploration wells have been drilled over aperiod of 120 years as compared to 150wells drilled over the past few years inadjacent West Bengal of India. Even thediscovered gas fields have not beenproperly exploited. Yes, the low-hangingfruits (structural traps in anticline) havebeen mostly exploited in the eastern andnorthern regions of the country. But inSurma Basin and greater Chattogram HillTracts regions, there are some majorprospects where there are chances of dis-covering new hydrocarbon resources.Geologists believe that there are possibil-ities of discovering hydrocarbon even inthe stratigraphic traps of Western andSouthern regions. We are not discussingthe huge prospect of discovering hydro-carbon in the vast offshore area - deepwater. Hence it is only uneducated guessgossiping about Bangladesh running outof gas resources. Bangladesh desperatelyneeds going for aggressive explorationcampaign for hydrocarbon explorationboth at onshore and offshore without fur-ther delays.

What is the Present Situation?Three Petrobangla-owned National OilCompanies (NOCs) — BGFCL, BAPEXand SGFL — are operating 17 gas fields.Two International Oil Companies —Chevron and Tullow — are operating

four gas fields. All the gas fields havereached production plateau and are de-pleting. From the past proven experi-ence of water-driven wells of Shanguand Bakhrabad, it can be concludedthat these fields may deplete sharplycatching all off-guard over the next cou-ple of years. According to a latestPetrobangla report (27-28 May 2021),BGFCL produced 632.7 MMCFD of gasfrom 44 wells of 7 gas fields against theircapacity of 851 MMCFD while SGFLfrom 11 wells of 4 gas fields produced88.5 MMCFD against the capacity of149 MMCFD. BAPEX from 8 fields (in-cluding most marginal fields) produced117.7 MMCFD against a capacity of145 MMCFD. On the other hand,Chevron from 38 wells in 3 fields pro-duced 1,557.6 MMCFD against a ca-pacity of 1,512 MMCFD. Tullow from 5wells of lone field Bangura produced84.6 MMCFD against the capacity of103 MMCFD.

It can be seen that production from allgas fields excepting Bibiyana operatedby Chevron is on the decline. It has alsobeen gathered that wellhead pressure ofBibiyana gas fields’ wells are also de-pleting. Something needs to be done toosoon to explore and discover new gasresources at potential gas leads andprospects in onshore areas as offshoreexploration may not give any goodnews in less than 7-10 years. AdditionalLNG cannot also be imported in lessthan 5 years.

BAPEX-Alone Policy in OnshoreExploration Proved CounterProductiveFollowing rejection of a Chevron pro-

Exploration Key toExploration Key toManage Gas ShortageManage Gas Shortage

Exploration Key toManage Gas Shortage

Saleque Sufi

23

Article

June 16, 2021

posal in 2000, no fresh PSC bid-ding round was conducted in theonshore area, leaving the entire re-sponsibility of that on BAPEX. But,at the same time, BAPEX was notgiven autonomy for taking owndecision independently to work asexploration and production com-pany. Suddenly, the capacity-con-strained BAPEX has been asked toimplement 108 wells drilling proj-ect in 5 years without assessing itstechnical, financial and manage-rial capability. Almost simultane-ously, Russian energy giantGAZPROM appeared on thescene and a lopsided contract fordrilling 10 development wells inPetrobangla-owned fields weresigned. GAZPROM engageddrilling contractor Ariel fromUzbekistan did a poor job. De-spite that they were awarded ad-ditional work. Despite havingseveral constraints, BAPEX madefew discoveries (mostly marginalfields). They also discovered a gasfield in Bhola and geared up fordrilling development wells. Nowthat work is being assigned toGAZPROM.

Exploration is a gamble. There arehuge risks involved in it whilechances are there for pipe stuck,fishing, side tracking, dry holes.The BAPEX management essen-tially requires freedom and auton-omy for taking decision. Themodel of ONGC can be followed.But all these have become toolate. Petrobangla must find com-petent JV partner for BAPEX forfurther exploring the identifiedstructures in Chattogram HillTracts (Sitapahar, Jaldi, Patiya andKasalang). BAPEX should work atChhatak and Tengratilla apartfrom continuing its works at theassigned blocks. For explorationin deeper prospects and SouthWestern regions, fresh round ofPSC bidding must be invited offer-ing additional incentives and de-vising a gas pricing formula forattracting competent IOCs. Weare not sure when the situation

will allow for letting out PSC bid-ding for deep offshore.

Restructuring of PetrobanglaCompanies The present state cannot justifySGFL and BAPEX to continue op-eration as an independent com-pany. At the present level ofproduction, these two companiesmay not survive for a long time.Thought of merging them to asingle exploration and produc-tion company has alreadystarted. We are not sure how longBGFCL may also survive. It canbe suggested planning for a sin-gle E&P company like ONGC,CNPC in 3-5 years through merg-ing all assets and resources. ThePetroleum Concession Direc-torate (PCD) of Petrobangla mustalso go for the new E&P com-pany enabling them to overseethe works of IOCs professionallyand carrying out reservoir studiesat required frequencies.

Expediting ExplorationCampaign is the KeyFor avoiding possible unpalatablesituation of diabolic gas crisis, thereis no option now but to expediteexploration campaign for hydro-carbon both at onshore and off-shore as soon as possible.Alongside BAPEX, IOCs must beengaged in onshore areas throughPSCs specially in South Western re-gions and deeper prospects. BAPEXin JV with IOCs should also furtherexplore Chattogram Hill Tracts. If10 rigs start operation in onshoreby 2022, it may be possible to dis-cover at least 2-3 TCF of new gasby 2025. If ONGC can discovergas and oil in our adjacent areasand if Myanmar can discover inour adjacent offshore blocks, thereis no reason why Bangladesh can-not get it. But for that, Petrobanglaand its companies need structuralchanges and complete overhaulingof management.

Saleque Sufi;Contributing Editor

24June 16, 2021

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Bangladesh is the single countryin the globe who has for morethan 27 years in the last 50

years as its Head of the Governmenta female person, while 81 countriesof the world never had female lead-ers as heads of the government.Sheikh Hasina having the positionof Prime Minister three consecutivetimes, having fourth tenure and nowtotal tenure is more than 17 yearsand this gave Bangladesh 7th rank-ing in women leadership by theGlobal Gender Gap report of 2021published by World EconomicForum (WEF) and placedBangladesh as single country fromSouth Asia within top 100. Consid-ering women leadership along witheducation, health and economic ac-tivities this Global Gender Gap Re-port 2021 having information of156 countries, Bangladesh ranked65th while other South Asian coun-tries Nepal 106th, Sri Lanka 116th,Maldives 128th , Bhutan 130th,India 140th, Pakistan153rd and Afghanistan156th.. In this reportBangladesh slipped by 15position and India by 28position. Looking into theissues of gender gap withno major shift in terms ofwomen empowerment,their involvement in eco-nomic activities, educa-tion and health in almostall the area both men andwomen progressed butduring this covid, womenprogressed less in eco-

nomic sector in comparison to men:that took our position to 65th from50th. The report of Global GenderGap 2021 says if current globaltrend continues it will need 135.6year to mend the gap between maleand female; specially in politicalarea it will need 145.5 years, ineconomic participation 267.6 yearsbut encouraging figure is in educa-tion only 14.2 years. In South Asia,it will require about 195.4 years toclose the gap between male and fe-male. COVID made the situationworse. In 2020, it was estimatedthat 99.5 years will be required tomend the gender gap, but Covidadded 36 years and brought theglobe to 135.6 years.

WEF measures gender gap consider-ing comparative position of womenin four major areas like leadershipin polities, health, education andeconomic activities. In 2021,Bangladesh has 7th position in lead-

ership and politics, 121st positionin Education, 134th position inHealth gap, 147th position in Eco-nomic activities. Bangladesh ranked1 in admission in primary and sec-ondary education, sex ratio at birthand years with male female head ofstate. We are 7th in political em-powerment which also consideredthe issue of women in parliamentand women in the ministries. In ourcabinet and parliament, participa-tion of women is 7.7% and 20.9%respectively and overall, 10%women in leadership role in publicand private sector placedBangladesh 139th position.

The study says Covid made the work ofwomen in double shift. During Covidpeople spent more time with family andchildren at home: so, the household ac-tivity along with taking care of childrenand elderly people needed more timewhich created both physical and men-tal pressure on women. Likewise, gap

increased substantially inthe area of labor force par-ticipation, wage, participa-tion in senior position inpolities, parliament andmanagement and participa-tion in technical work.

Though support of skilledbirth attendant during deliv-ery reduced substantiallyfrom 67.80% in 2020 to52.7% in 2021, anti-natalcare at least four visits dur-ing pregnancy increasedfrom 31.20 to 36.9%. In2020, life expectancy of fe-

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male was 64.1, while male had 62.6years having the ranking of 129. In2021, life expectancy of women in-creased from 64.1 to 64.4, but the lifeexpectancy of male also increased from62.6 to 64.2 and that took us in the po-sition of 142nd.

But the gender gap narrowed down re-markably in secondary enrollment, sec-ondary completion, drop out and alsoinclusion of female in tertiary education.

UNDP’s Human Development Report2020 identified Bangladesh as one ofthe quick progressing countries in termsof human development. In global gen-der inequality index(GII) position ofBangladesh (0.537) is much higher thanthe global average (0.436). It achievedhuman development index for women0.596 and for men it is 0.66 having itsposition 133 out of 189 countries andterritories. According to this report, ado-lescent birth rate, antenatal care cover-age, child marriage, contraceptiveprevalence rate, female participation inemployment and services, mid-levelmanagement and Skilled Birth Atten-dant (SBA) support during delivery arequite good. But share of employment innon-agriculture sector, share of gradu-ates in science, technical, engineering,mathematics and tertiary education,total employment, seats in parliament,seats in local bodies, violence againstwomen and Bank account need to belooked into for further development andto mend the gap between male and fe-male. A BRAC study says during March-April 2020, 63.6% violence againstwomen increased. This study says dur-ing Covid, 27% women lost their jobs,16% of women had decreased workhour, informal sector for women de-creased 6 times than men while workhour of men decreased by 14% but forthe female it decreased by 80%. MoreCovid support is given to men thanwomen by the government, NGO, fam-ily friends and foreign donations. Covidrelated information was least availablewith women along with deprivation ofmedical care. But the positive informa-tion is that women Covid patient is farless then man. Both COVID and supercyclone Amphan in the last year af-

fected more with women. An ILO reportsays the gender gap ratio in Bangladeshis only 2.2% while the global gap is21.2%. Cultural barrier is another causeof women deprivation and gender gap .A mother gives more food to her malechild than female and this male childafter marriage gets special food in his fa-ther-in-law’s house and this propositionis not correct for the girl. But withchanging times, both in rural and urbanarea mothers are encouraged to treatboy and girl equally. The same is in thewage gap; commonly told that womenwork less than men, which is not cor-rect. Time is now to raise the voice formending the gap of male and female inBangladesh.

SDG 5 with a tittle of ‘Achieve genderequality and empower all women andgirls’ having 9 targets and 14 indicatorsBangladesh achieved well in enactingnecessary laws and regulations, use ofmobile phone by women and timespent for unpaid works; it is moderate inchild marriage. Much is done forwomen empowerment in different fieldof civil- military position and privatesector but for the equality more atten-tion needs to be given for economic em-powerment, women ownership ofbusiness, head of the organization andpolitical empowerment.

Arrangement of the government for thechildcare, putting the name of motherwith the identification of the child, cam-paign and legal provision against childmarriage, safety net programs for thepoor women, ‘Amar Bari Amar Khamar’program, distribution of governmentland and providing shelter for the help-less in joint ownership of husband andwife are remarkable decision of the gov-ernment of Bangladesh to narrow downthe gender gap and helped achieveSDG goal. Bangladesh had a specialquota for the women in service which isrecognized by our constitution. At thesame time, government has a decisionto encourage more women in economicactivities by allocating plots in the Eco-nomic Zone and women budget too.

Covid awarded women with jobless-ness, more violence with women at

home, more work at home in unpaidcare giving to children and elderly peo-ple of the family, less government sup-port in comparison to men, reducedaccess to family planning facility, moregirls drop out of school ultimate in-crease of child marriage and ultimatelyincreased gender gap. The average dis-tance completed to parity in 2021 is at68% a set back by 0.6% point com-pared to 2020. McKinsey in his reporton COVID-19 under gender equalitymentioned the women makes up almosttwo fifth of the global labor force buthave suffered more than half of total joblosses from COVID that left than 1.8times more vulnerable to the pandemicin part then men, more than 1/3rd workthan the father during COVID needs tobe performed by mother and women'sjob 90% are at greater risk than men inthe area of service sector, specially ac-commodation and food service, retailand wholesale trade and services suchas art, recreation and public administra-tion. This is to be noted that globallywomen work more in service sector.

Reducing gender gap boosts economicgrowth, competitiveness and readinessfor future. COVID can whip out themoderate progress made in the lastdecade in women development and abackward step for the gender equality;40 to 60 million COVID extremepoverty affects more to women. To copeup with the situation in COVID andlooking towards the global scenario,gender gap of Bangladesh which is anincreasing trend, we need to create op-portunity for more women to work,more investing in the girl’s education,child care and the aged people carecenter all around the country, especiallyin the growth centers. And more supportfor the women education may acceler-ate family planning activities and canturn Bangladesh towards a positive di-rection in mending the gender gap. Weneed to achieve SDG 2030 and prosperas developed country by 2041 with aright balance in gender.

Md. Abul Kalam Azad;Former Principal Secretary andPrincipal SDG Coordinator

27June 16, 2021

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State Minister for Power,Energy and Mineral Re-sources Nasrul Hamid

recently laid emphasis on in-stalling pre-paid meters tomake effective contributionsto the economical use ofelectricity and gas.

“Pre-paid meters wouldmake an effective contribu-tion to the economical use ofelectricity and gas,” he said,addressing a webinar titled“Prosperous Bangladesh, Un-interrupted Power and En-

ergy Security Budget” organ-ized by CRI albd web Team,a press release said.

“Besides, we need to take far-reaching plans for the use ofdomestic energy,” he added.

Mentioning that necessary ef-forts are being taken tostrengthen State-run BangladeshPetroleum Exploration and Pro-duction Company Ltd (BAPEX),the state minister said incentivesare continuing for power gener-ation from renewable energysources.

Renewable energy could beone of the main sources ofpower generation in the fu-ture, he said.

Wind power, ocean renewableenergy, electricity from wasteand solar power will make ahuge contribution to the energymix in future, he added.

Nasrul for Using Pre-Paid Metersfor Electricity, Gas

The government recentlyapproved the installation

of 50km Bakhrabad-Megh-naghat-Haripur gas transmis-sion line project at a cost ofTk 13.05 billion to supplythe fossil fuel to power plantsand industries, officials said.

Presided over by Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina, the Ex-ecutive Committee of theNational Economic Council(ECNEC) endorsed the proj-ect along with nine others at

a total cost of Tk 66.51 bil-lion, Planning Minister MAMannan said.

The state-run Gas Trans-mission Company Limited(GTCL) will lay the 50kmpipeline from Bakhrabadto Haripur via Megh-naghat to supply naturalgas to six power stations -- some are currently inoperation and some oth-ers were waiting for com-mercial operations.

The construction of a 300MW nuclear power unit

enabled with the innovativeBREST-OD-300 lead-cooledfast reactor has begun at thesite of the Siberian ChemicalCombine (an enterprise ofRosatom-subsidiary TVELFuel Company) in Seversk,Russia’s Tomsk region (South-West Siberia).

The reactor will run on mixeduranium-plutonium nitridefuel (MNUP fuel), specially

developed for this facility(it is considered to be theoptimal solution for fastreactors).

The power plant will makeup an integral part of thePilot Demonstration EnergyComplex (PDEC) — a cluster

of three interconnected uniquefacilities, including the nuclearfuel production plant (for fabrica-tion and refabrication), theBREST-OD-300 power unit, andthe facility for irradiated fuel re-processing.

For the first time in history, anuclear power plant pow-ered by a fast reactor will bebuilt alongside closed nu-clear fuel cycle servicing en-terprises on one site.

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Rosatom Starts Construction ofBREST-OD-300 Fast Neutron Reactor

The DhakaChamber of

Commerce and In-dustry (DCCI) andBangladesh Uni-versity of Engineer-ing andTechnology (BUET)recently signed aMemorandum of Coopera-tion (MoC) to work togetherand face the challenges of4IR (the Fourth IndustrialRevolution).

DCCI President Rizwan Rah-man and Vice Chancellor ofBUET Prof. Satya Prasad Ma-jumder signed the documenton behalf of their respectiveorganizations.

According to the cooperationagreement, both DCCI andBUET will work together forskill development to meet upthe challenges of fourth in-dustrial revolution as well asto arrange joint research,seminars, webinars, job fairs,business meet and model de-velopment.

DCCI President Rizwan Rah-man said BUET has been

contributing a lot in thecountry's technological andinfrastructural developmentsince its inception. "Whetherit is a matter of any mega in-frastructure or disaster man-agement issues, BUET alwaysextended its forerunner role."

He also put emphasis on de-veloping innovative tech-nologies, sector specificresearch as per the demandof industry.

Vice Chancellor of BUETProf. Satya Prasad Majumdersaid Bangladesh is going tobe a developing nation withan industrially advancement."For this we have to prepareourselves identifying theproblems of industry sectorand ensure wider use of in-novative technology and re-search," he said.

DCCI, BUET to Work on 4thIndustrial Revolution

Tk 13.05b Gas TransmissionProject Approved

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The power plants will haveto pay source tax from

next fiscal year against theirsale of electricity as the fi-nance minister proposed thenew tax measure at 6.0 percent in the new budget.

Earlier, the source tax was ap-plicable only for the rentalpower plants.

The new tax measure will,however, not be applicableto those power plants that areenjoying tax holiday for 15years after initiation of elec-tricity generation.

This source tax will be appli-cable to them after the taxholiday period is over.

However, the powerand energy sector hasseen a meagre 2.71 percent increase in alloca-tion to Tk 274.84 billionfor the 2021-22 fiscalyear, compared to 12per cent growth in the

size of the annual outlay.

The allocation of Tk 267.58billion for the sector in thecurrent (2020-21) budget was4.60 per cent lower than theprevious (FY 20) year's allo-cation of Tk. 280.51 billion.

Proposing the budget for FY2021-22 on June 3, the fi-nance minister projected thatthe country's overall electric-ity generation capacitywould rise to 57,972megawatt (MW) within sev-eral years should all thepower plants the governmenthas initiated to build comeinto operation.

FY22 Budget Proposes SourceTax for Power Plants

Aprivate power sponsor,Independent Power Pro-

ducer (IPP), has sought an al-ternative option to exit fromthe proposed coal-firedpower plants.

They want to replace thecoal-fired plants with LNG-based plants. This was soughtat a review meeting of thepower projects recently.

“The IPP sought to replacetheir 522MW Munshiganjcoal-fired power plant withan LNG-based plant. How-ever, this is subject to the ap-proval by the ministry,” saidan official.

He said the government wasyet to take any decision inthis regard.

The French DevelopmentAgency (AFD) will pro-

vide a loan of 12 millioneuros to Bangladesh to fi-nance the ‘Construction andAugmentation of Substationand Installation of the Capac-itor Bank in Power Systemunder DPDC Area’ Project.

Fatima Yasmin, Secretary,Economic Relations Division,and Chassatte Benoit, Coun-try Director of AFD, signed

the grant agreement onbehalf of the govern-ment of Bangladeshand AFD respectively,said a press release.

The grant is supple-mented to the loan of100 million euro

which has previously beensigned between Bangladeshand AFD to finance the simi-lar project.

The main objective of theproject is to supply qualityand uninterrupted electricityto the customers under theDPDC area and to improvepower supply at 132 Kv,33Kv and 11 Kv voltage lev-els.

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12m Euro AFD Loan to ConstructSubstation in DPDC Area

Anew up-to-date training

center for con-struction and erec-tion specialists hasbeen commis-sioned at RooppurNuclear PowerPlant (RNPP),which is beingbuilt in Bangladesh with theassistance of the Russian Fed-eration.

The training center has beenbuilt with the assistance ofthe Bangladesh Atomic En-ergy Commission (BAEC),SRO SOYUZATOMSTROYfor providing JSC ASE, thegeneral contractor, and sub-contractors with qualifiedconstruction and erectionspecialists and for continuousimprovement of skills.

“The citizens of Bangladeshwho have been recruited insubcontractor organizationsand who have successfullypassed probation period willnow have a unique possibil-ity to master a new professionor improve their skills,” saidAlexey Deriy, Vice President- Director of RNPP construc-tion project.

Until now, a mobile trainingcenter was used for organiz-ing continuous teaching con-struction professions at theRooppur construction site.

After commissioning of theTraining Center, citizens ofBangladesh will undergotraining in specialized classesand production shops withthe most up-to-date equip-ment.

The production shops haveareas for teaching generalconstruction works, electricalwelding, installation ofprocess equipment andpipelines, air ducts and ven-tilation equipment and elec-trical installation works.

Over 7000 specialists ofBangladesh will be able toundergo training and im-prove their skills during onecalendar year.

Training Center for BangladeshiSpecialists Opened at RNPP

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Private Company Seeks LNG forCoal-Fired Plants

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In line with Summit’s com-mitment to continue trans-

forming the power sector inBangladesh by adopting ad-vanced technology solutions,the company has successfullybrought GE 9HA.01 heavy-duty gas turbine at its upcom-ing Summit Meghnaghat IIpower plant located inMeghnaghat, near Dhaka.

Meeting the project timeline,the gas turbine has been suc-cessfully placed on the foun-dation at the site of the powerplant, which is expected tobe commissioned in 2022,generating the equivalentelectricity needed to supply

up to 700,000 homesin Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh is stillone of the lowest percapita consumers ofelectricity in the In-dian subcontinentwhile GDP growthper capita-wise, the

highest. Summit wants tosupport Bangladesh’s growthtrajectory by providing thecitizens with primary infra-structure,” emphasizedMuhammed Aziz Khan,Founder Chairman of Sum-mit Group of Companies.

“We look forward to usingGE’s advanced HA technol-ogy for the first time inBangladesh to generate af-fordable and reliable electric-ity.”

Summit’s Meghnaghat II proj-ect is the single largest privatesector power project invest-ment in Bangladesh.

Summit Meghnaghat-II Wel-comes GE’s First HA Gas Turbine

Some 52 percent of con-sumers responding to a

survey covering two upazilasin Narayanganj and Cumillahave said they need to pur-sue middlemen to obtain anelectricity connection.

This was revealed in a surveyconducted by the Infrastruc-ture Investment FacilitationCompany.

The survey was carried outamong 1400 consumers, ofwhich 700 were in Sadar Up-azila of Narayanganj and theremaining 700 in Burichangupazila of Cumilla.

Receiving the findings of thedraft survey report recently,State Minister for Power, En-ergy and Mineral ResourcesNasrul Hamid directed the

power utilities to find out thecauses as to why the con-sumers have to apply for elec-tricity connection through themiddlemen instead of their di-rect application to the respec-tive organizations.

Dhaka Power DistributionCompany Ltd, BangladeshPower Development Boardand Rural ElectrificationBoard have been operating inthe areas covered by the sur-vey, where household con-sumers are 71 percent of allconnections while commer-cial and others are 29 percent.

As per the survey report, some39 percent of the consumersreceive electricity fromDPDC, 39 percent from BREBand the remaining 22 percentfrom the BPDB.

Oil prices surged on de-mand optimism ahead

of the latest OPEC meetingrecently, while the poundhit a three-year high againstthe dollar over Britain’seconomic rebound.

Wall Street and Londonwere closed for holidaysmeaning there were fewdrivers for buying, with thegeneral theme continuingto be the global economicrecovery playing againstfears about inflation and apossible taper of centralbank monetary policy.

The rollout of vaccinesaround the world has al-

lowed leaders of keyeconomies including theUnited States and Europe towind back the containmentmeasures that sparked a re-cession last year.

Oi l pr ices , however,ral l ied ahead of the lat-est monthly gathering ofOPEC and a l l ies , wi thexpecta t ions that theywil l begin to l i f t outputfrom next month as theygrow confident that thewor ld economy is wel lon the recovery t rackand demand wi l l con-t inue to improve.

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Oil, Pound Rally on RecoveryOptimism

The country's lone hardrock mining company

at Parbatipur in the north-ern Dinajpur districtshould have been a greatmoneymaker in the Tk6,000 crore domesticgranite market.

Instead, the company nowstands as an example ofserious mismanagementand losses, sources say.

After going into commer-cial operation in 2007, theMaddhapara Granite Min-ing Company Ltd(MGMCL) has incurredlosses amounting to Tk593crore till June 2018.

In the past two years, thecompany, however, madeTk 7 crore and Tk 22 crore

operational profits, offi-cial documents show.

But, these rather insignifi-cant profits pale in com-parison to the hugepotential of the company.It could grab only a 6%slice of the domestic gran-ite market so far.

The rock market has a mas-sive 20-25% annual growthwhich is met with imports.

The reason why Maddhaparais performing poorly can befound in the way the com-pany's owner Petrobanglahandled the mine's operatingcontractor Germania-TrestConsortium (GTC) — a jointventure of Germania Corpo-ration Limited and BelarusianTrest.

Maddhapara Mining HitsRock Bottom

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52% Users Get Electricity LineThru’ Middlemen: Survey

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Russian oil major Gazpromobtained a contract for

drilling 3 wells at Bhola gasfield at a contract value of Tk648.39 crore (equivalent toabout $77.184 million).

Cabinet Committee on PublicPurchase in a recent meeting,presided over by FinanceMinister AHM MustafaKamal, approved a proposalof the state-ownedPetrobangla in this regard toaward the contract to theRussian firm.

The Energy and Mineral Re-sources Division placed thePetrobangla’s unsolicitedproposal, based on SpeedySupply of Power and EnergySupply (Special Act) 2010, to

the cabinet bodyfor approval.

It means, the Russ-ian firm was se-lected for theproject through ne-gotiation and with-out any competitivebidding process.

Gazprom will take over thedrilling works from thePetrobangla’s subsidiaryBangladesh Petroleum Explo-ration and Production Com-pany (Bapex) whichdiscovered the Bhola gas field.

Mustafa Kamal said theGazprom was picked up forthe project since it is a re-puted international firm hav-ing vast experience in thisfield.

Earlier, Gazprom had drilleda number of wells at differentgas fields to enhance gas pro-duction. But many energy ex-perts were critical over thecontract value of the works ofthe Russian firm.

Gazprom to Drill 3 Wells in BholaGas Field

The government has notdecided yet if it should

abandon 13 coal-firedpower plants as the LNGtariff is increasing steeply inthe international market.

The government has taken17 coal-fired power proj-ects to generate around17,000 megawatt of elec-tricity by 2030 when thecountry’s electricity de-mand will reach 34,000MW.

In February 2021, thePower Division sent a pro-posal to Prime Minister Of-fice (PMO) to seek policylevel decision about 13coal-fired power plants.

There are a total of 17 coal-fired power plants.

After a month, the PMO hassent back a proposal to scrap13 coal-fired projects andsought clarification about theexisting ratio of electricitygeneration from the coal-firedplants after scrapping the pro-posed plants, said an official.

It also sought a review ofthe regional grid balance.

According to the officialsources, State Minister forPower and Energy NasrulHamid sought to scrap theprojects as pressures mountedon funding for implementingthe projects.

Abu Dhabi sold $2 billionin seven-year bonds re-

cently in its first foray into theinternational debt marketsthis year, raising cash for statecoffers despite a recent re-bound in oil prices.

The oil-rich emirate sold thebonds at 45 basis points (bps)over U.S. Treasuries. Thatwas tightened from initialguidance of 70-75 bps overTreasuries after the debt salereceived over $6.9 billion inorders.

The United Arab Emirates,

where Abu Dhabi is the capi-tal, was hit hard by theCOVID-19 pandemic and lastyear's crash in oil prices, buta rebound in global crude de-mand as economies re-openhas reduced the urgency toborrow for budget purposes.

The event will engage theleaders to help shape theglobal, regional and localagenda in the energy sector in-cluding Power, Energy Transi-tion, Oil & Gas, Renewables,Coal, Digital Transformation,among others.

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Abu Dhabi Sells $2b in BondsDespite Oil Rebound

The destiny of theworld rests in in-

novative utilizationof hydrocarbonswhilst embracingthe rise of renew-ables in the globalenergy mix, Secre-tary General of thelargest consortiumof gas exporting nations, theGas Exporting CountriesForum (GECF), said at the24th St. Petersburg Interna-tional Economic Forum(SPIEF).

“The world will need topower its economic growththrough hydrocarbons,specifically the cleaner,abundant, and cheaper natu-ral gas, for some time tocome. It is obvious that thestructure of the energy mix isbecoming more diversifiedthanks to the expansion of re-

newables. However, fossilfuels are projected to remaindominant, accounting for71% in 2050,” said Yury Sen-tyurin, during a panel on“The Future of Energy: Energytransition” (3 June 2021).

“As an organization dedi-cated to studying and fore-casting the innovative use ofnatural gas, the GECF be-lieves that it is gas that can re-alistically bring about themost efficient and environ-mentally friendly energy tran-sition.”

Gas a Pragmatic Answer to Realize Energy Transition: GECF Forum

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Desco to Get Smart with PrepaidMeters

The state-run Power GridCompany of Bangladesh

(PGCB) is working to developan alternative transmission lineto evacuate 600 megawatt(MW) of electricity from Payracoal-fired power plant.

The substitute line is requiredas installation of the originaltransmission line is gettingdelayed.

"We're trying to develop analternative transmission lineto evacuate around 600MWelectricity to Khulna region

after this December," PGCBmanaging director GolamKibria said.

Sources said the country'slargest 1,320MW plant isrunning at its half capacitygenerating around 600MWfor an inadequate line toevacuate electricity.

The original line, as designedunder the project, is sup-posed to cross the Padmariver, but six necessary elec-tricity towers are yet to bebuilt.

Dhaka Electric SupplyCompany (Desco) is

going smart with the prepaidmeters for its consumers, thechief of the company hassaid.

Work on its mega plan to in-stall the smart prepaid metersis underway and the utilityhopes to complete the systemin the next two years, saidKauser Ameer Ali, managingdirector (MD) of Desco.

He said the company has al-ready floated a tender and isnow in the process to awarda contract to a private com-pany to install necessaryhardware and software, up-grading the system.

“We’re hoping to start provid-ing the smart pre-paid metersamong the consumers fromnext year... And it will becompleted by June 2023,"said Kausar.

Desco has been operating asa distribution company since1998 mainly in the capitalcity’s north-western and east-ern parts, including Mirpur,Uttara, Gulshan, Banani,Baridhara and Badda andalso part of Gazipur having aconsumer base of about1.053 million.

The upcoming Pur-bachal Model Town wil lalso be under i ts opera-t ional area.

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Alternative Line to Evacuate600MW Power from Payra Plant

Japanese Ambassador toBangladesh Ito Naoki has

said the Japanese investorsare willing to invest in cleanenergy.

He said this during a meetingwith State Minister for For-eign Affairs Md ShahriarAlam in Dhaka recently.

He also appreciatedBangladesh’s leadership rolein the climate change dis-course.

They comprehensively dis-cussed the bilateral relations

and issues of common inter-ests as well as reviewed theprogress of the Japan-fundedmajor development projects.

Mr. Shahriar said the Bay ofBengal Industrial Growth Belt(Big-B) Initiative of Japan willaccelerate cooperation fordevelopment of quality infra-structure and create more in-vestment opportunities inBangladesh.

These will also helpstrengthen the regional con-nectivity, he said.

Oil and gasgroup Total

won more than90 per centbacking for itsclimate plan togradually reduceits emissions re-cently, whenshareholders alsovoted over-whelmingly infavor of its rebrand as Total-Energies to mark its shift torenewable energy.

Some shareholders had cam-paigned to reject Total’sgreen goals as not ambitiousenough, echoing growing in-vestor rebellions in the sector.

Demands for oil companiesto speed up the shift from fos-sil fuel reached a crescendothis week as a Dutch courtordered Royal Dutch Shell togreatly increase greenhouseemission cuts and ExxonMobil battled with an activistinvestor over its record onclimate change.

Total’s climate strategy,which lays out its aim toreach carbon neutrality by2050, was backed by91.88 per cent of share-holders voting at its an-nual meeting.

“This outcome is, I think,the best response to com-mentators who predicted,and in some cases evenhoped for an investor re-bellion against the com-pany, and responds tothose who act more as ac-tivists than shareholders,”chairman and chief exec-utive Patrick Pouyannesaid.

Total Rebrands Amid Push intoRenewables

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Japanese Investors Want to Investin Clean Energy

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35June 16, 2021

The Asian Develop-ment Bank (ADB) has

found three suitable sitesfor floating solar powerplants which, once in-stalled, will be able togenerate a total of 61-megawatt electricity.

Officials said Bara-pukuria pit lakes in Di-najpur would be able tohost a 45.9MW plant,Jhenidah's Joydia baor(lake) a 9.1MW plantand Jashore's Bukbharabaor a 6.0MW plant.

The ADB has recentlysubmitted a report of itsfeasibility study on thesesites to the Sustainableand Renewable EnergyDevelopment Authority(SREDA).

For solar power plants,according to SREDA of-ficials, the main chal-

lenges lie with the ac-quisition of land. Sincethe area of Barapukuriapit lakes belongs to thecoalmine company,here the land is ensured.

They said the Bara-pukuria site is thus mostfeasible for setting up afloating solar powerplant.

The study suggested thatelectricity generation inthe lakes combine withaquaculture to promotethe dual use of watersystems.

"Commercial fisheriesintegrated with floatingphotovoltaic farms canprovide sustainablesources of both foodand power in locationswhere population den-sity is high and landavailability competitive.

Joydia baor is an oxbowlake and it has a cres-cent shape. It is nearly6.0 kilometers long with250-400 meters wide,according to the report.

The lake is widely usedfor washing and bathingby many in the widerlakeside community andpeople also use thewater for cooking andwashing clothes.

One of the larger lakesin Jashore, Bukbharabaor has a surface areaof nearly 153 hectaresduring wet season and itreduces to around 105hectares in dry season.

The lake is mainly usedfor commercial fishingin addition to irrigationof croplands, jute ret-ting, washing, bathingand cooking water.

ADB Finds Sites for 61MW FloatingSolar Plants

State Minister for Power, Energy andMineral Resources Nasrul Hamid re-

cently called for motivating the con-sumers to be more careful forconsumption of power and energy.

“Consumers need to utilize their electric-ity and energy efficiently,” he said whilespeaking at a workshop titled “NationalEnergy Balance: Bangladesh Perspective”as the chief guest.

“It is necessary to run a massive campaignby informing the clients and the peopleabout the beneficial aspects and processof saving power and energy,” he added.

He said that according to the master plan,the target was set to reduce primary en-ergy consumption by 20% per GDP by2030 and steps are being taken to updateit in due course.

Sustainable and Renewable Energy De-velopment Authority (SREDA) is workingon the expansion of renewable energyand efficient and economical use of en-ergy, he said.

The state minister also said that all haveto take initiative to increase the per capitapower generation to 512 KW hours.

“Our goal is to provide quality and unin-terrupted electricity supply,” he added.

Team Leader Consultant and SREDA Ad-viser Yoshihik Kato presented the keynotespeech on ‘National Energy Balance’ onthe occasion.

With SREDA Chairman MohammadAlauddin in the chair, the program was at-tended, among others, by Power Secre-tary Md Habibur Rahman, BangladeshPetroleum Corporation (BPC) Chairman AB M Azad and Bangladesh Energy andPower Research Council (BEPRC) Chair-man Satyajit Karmaker.

Nasrul Calls forCareful Consumption

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Energypac Eletronics Limited has re-cently signed a Joint Development

Agreement (JDA) with MPWRNRGYPte. Ltd. (Singapore) to co-developsolar power plants in Bangladesh.

The agreement aims to aid inBangladesh’s vision to generate cleanenergy and achieve the targeted Sus-tainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Energypac Electronics Limited providesreliable, efficient, and expert energy so-lutions in Bangladesh whereas MP-WRNRGY is a Singaporean company

that develops, installs, and operatesgreen technologies.

The proposed utility scale solar PVplants will generate electricity, convert-ing energy from the sun which is con-sidered unlimited and is free fromemissions, unlike fossil fuels that arelimited and release carbon dioxide(CO2) in the atmosphere causing theEarth to retain more heat and resultingin climate change.

These solar plants will provide electric-ity to the national grid through long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)or existing net metering system ap-proved by Bangladesh government.

This JDA aims to combine the strengths ofEnergypac Electronics’ local presence asan experienced player in electrical solu-tions and MPWRNRGY’s experience indeveloping and executing large-scalesolar power projects.

Energypac,MPWRNRGY to

Develop Solar Park

COP 26 President-designate AlokSharma recently said UK is ready to

support Dhaka in its transition to cleanenergy while he called on rich countriesto fulfil their pledge of forming annual100 billion US dollar climate fund to sup-port vulnerable countries like Bangladesh.

“I have urged the rich countries to fulfiltheir pledges to create the 100 billion USdollar annual climate fund,” he said in ajoint press briefing with foreign ministerDr AK Abdul Momen at foreign serviceacademy in Dhaka.

The COP26 president also urged all coun-tries to fulfill their commitments to limit

global temperature rise to 1.5 degree.

Before the briefing, Sharma held a meet-ing with the Bangladesh foreign ministerand attend a UK- Bangladesh ClimatePartnership Roundtable.

Dr Momen said he urged the UK to trans-fer technologies of green energy toBangladesh as Dhaka has the plan toscale down its power production fromcoal.

He said Bangladesh has the plan to pro-duce its 40 percent of power from the re-newable sources and to materialize thatDhaka is looking for technology of moresolar and wind power.

The foreign minister said Bangladeshsought support from the developed coun-tries to provide assistance in building highand wide embankment with solar andwind power facilities along with its entirecoastal belt.

Dhaka Seeks UK Support in CleanEnergy Tech

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The world’s energy and climate futureincreasingly hinges on whether

emerging and developing economiesare able to successfully transition tocleaner energy systems, calling for astep change in global efforts to mobi-lize and channel the massive surge ininvestment that is required, accordingto a new report by the International En-ergy Agency (IEA).

The special report published recently—carried out in collaboration with theWorld Bank and the World EconomicForum — sets out a series of actions toenable these countries to overcome themajor hurdles they face in attracting thefinancing to build the clean, modernand resilient energy systems that canpower their growing economies fordecades to come.

Annual clean energy investment inemerging and developing economies

needs to increase by more than seventimes — from less than USD 150 billionlast year to over $1 trillion by 2030 toput the world on track to reach net-zeroemissions by 2050, according to the re-port, Financing Clean Energy Transi-tions in Emerging and DevelopingEconomies.

Unless much stronger action is taken,energy-related carbon dioxide emis-sions from these economies — which aremostly in Asia, Africa and Latin Amer-ica — are set to grow by 5 billion tonnesover the next two decades.

“In many emerging and developingeconomies, emissions are heading up-wards while clean energy investments arefaltering, creating a dangerous fault linein global efforts to reach climate and sus-tainable energy goals,’’ said Fatih Birol,the IEA Executive Director.

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38June 16, 2021

Singapore's central bank has allo-cated $1.8 billion with five asset

managers as part of moves to pro-tect its portfolio from climatechange risks and aid the city-state'sefforts to promote environmentallysustainable projects.

Climate change and other green is-sues are a top priority for many gov-ernments, and financial regulatorsare also changing rules to forcecompanies to better disclose theirenvironmental impact.

At a recent news conference, RaviMenon, managing director of Mon-etary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

said the funds were placed fromSingapore's official foreign reservesas part of the central bank's greeninvestment program.

The event will engage the leaders tohelp shape the global, regional andlocal agenda in the energy sectorincluding Power, Energy Transition,Oil & Gas, Renewables, Coal, Digi-tal Transformation among others.

"We aim to reduce risks to the port-folio across different climate scenar-ios, seize investment opportunitiesfrom the transition to a lower car-bon future and support the transi-tion of portfolio companies," hesaid.

Singapore Places$1.8b for Green

Investments

The technology group Wärtsilä hassigned multiple energy storage con-

tracts with SMC Global Power HoldingsInc. through its subsidiary, UniversalPower Solutions Inc., in the Philippinesduring 2019-2020.

The first two projects, Integrated Renew-able Power Hub-Toledo and BCCPP,Limay, Bataan, have achieved finalcommissioning in May.

The projects have a capacity of 20 MW/ 20 MWh and 40 MW / 40MWh re-spectively, and are part of the earlier an-nounced energy storage orders.

These are the first energy stor-age systems supplied byWärtsilä to the Philippines.

The projects are delivered onan engineering, procurementand construction (EPC) basis,and include Wärtsilä’s propri-ety software and hardwaresolutions.

The systems comprise the company’sGridSolv Max system, a standardisedenergy storage solution that providesflexible and modular storage for thecore hardware assets of the systems, in-cluding the batteries, a safety and firesystem, and inverters, alongside the ad-vanced GEMS Digital Energy Platform.

Wärtsilä is enabling the transition to-wards a 100% renewable energy futureby designing and building flexible sys-tems that integrate renewable energysources, thermal assets and energy stor-age.

Wärtsilä Finalizes Commissioning ItsFirst Two Storage Projects

The International Renewable EnergyAgency (IRENA), and the National

Energy Administration of China (NEA)have agreed to work to strengthen co-operation as the world’s largest renew-able energy market builds momentumtowards the achievement of its carbonneutrality goals.

China has pledged to peak its CO2emissions before 2030 and committedto the achievement of carbon neutralitybefore 2060.

Under the agreement, IRENA will pre-pare a comprehensive energy transitionroadmap identifying key policy actions,technology solutions and industrial de-velopment programs to enable the real-ization of medium- and long-termnational renewable energy goals anddecarbonisation aims.

Joint work will also include the identifi-cation of optimal sub-national pathwaysto carbon neutrality. China has commit-ted to raising its non-fossil fuel share ofprimary energy to 25 per cent by 2030and increasing the total installed capac-ity of solar and wind to 1200 GW bythat time.

The agreement was signed by FrancescoLa Camera, Director-General of IRENAand Mr. Zhang Jianhua, Administratorof the NEA.

China, IRENA Boost Ties on CarbonNeutrality Goals

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Prime Minister SheikhHasina recently called for

collective efforts and action-oriented approach for build-ing greener future for the nextgeneration as she placed threesuggestions at P4G Summit.

“We, the participating lead-ers in the P4G Summit, needto work more closely towardsa greener future for our nextgeneration, she said.

In her recorded speechbroadcast in the ‘Leader’sSession’ of the two-day Sec-ond Partnering for GreenGrowth and Global Goals-P4G Summit held at Seoul,Seoul-T’Ukpyolsi, Republicof Korea recently.

For building greenerfuture, she in her firstsuggestion said thatthe P4G needs tocampaign moreabout its action-ori-ented approach, en-gaging morefinanciers, innova-tors, policymakers

and creative entrepreneurs inthe five P4G focus areas, andshare best practices.

The Prime Minister secondlystressed the need for achiev-ing green growth and globalgoals 2030, in addition towhole-of-society approach.

As the chair of the ClimateVulnerable Forum-CVF andthe host to the South Asianoffice of Global Centre onAdaptation, Sheikh Hasinasaid that Bangladesh’s keyfocus is to uphold the inter-ests of the climate vulnerablecountries and promote lo-cally-led adaptation solu-tions.

PM for P4G’s Collective Efforts toBuild Greener Future

COP26 President-Desig-nate Alok Sharma has

highlighted the importance ofthe Sundarbans, the world'slargest mangrove forest, say-ing that it plays a significantrole as a carbon sink.

During his recent visit toBangladesh, Sharma trav-elled to the Sundarbans andsaw how the natural defensesof the Sundarbans can pro-tect villages from high windspeed and storm surges.

"I learnt more about how thisvital carbon sink protectslocal communities from cy-clones and storm surges. Na-

ture is the key in order tokeep 1.5C in reach. Preserv-ing it must be a priority forall," he said.

Sharma welcomedBangladesh climate leader-ship and ambition ahead ofCOP26.

Bangladesh signals moves totransition from coal and sub-mit an ambitious climateplan during COP26 Presi-dent's visit.

The COP26 president-desig-nate welcomed strong cli-mate commitments fromBangladesh.

Sundarbans Acts as a CarbonSink: COP26 President

Environment, Forest andClimate Change Minister

Md Shahab Uddin recentlysaid the government is work-ing relentlessly to tackle thedisasters caused by the ad-verse impacts of global cli-mate-change.

“The government has up-dated the ‘Bangladesh Cli-mate Change Strategy andAction Plan’ to adapt to cli-mate change and set up a‘Bangladesh Climate ChangeTrust Fund’with its own fund-ing and various governmentand non-government projectsare being implemented in thecountry with the funding ofthe fund,” he said.

The minister said this while vir-tually addressing a national di-alogue titled ‘Climate Changeand Risk of Disaster on theSouth-West Coast’ organizedby the Sundarbans and CoastalProtection Movement.

Besides, the government hasalso made a ‘National Adap-tation Plan ImplementationRoadmap’, he said.

The minister also said that2.55 million US dollars hasbeen received from the GreenClimate Fund for the NationalAdaptation Plan Process For-mulation and the implemen-tation work of the project hasalready been started.

The project will also play arole in resolving the existingsituation in the south-westcoast, he said, adding that thegovernment has formulated‘Standing Orders on Disas-ters’, 2019, to deal with nat-ural disasters also.

He urged all individuals andnon-governmental organiza-tions to come forward to im-prove the living standards ofthe affected people in coastalareas.

Govt Working on TacklingClimate-Induced Disasters: Minister

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The annual peak of globalheat-trapping carbon

dioxide in the air has reachedanother dangerous mile-stone: 50% higher than whenthe industrial age began.

And the average rate of in-crease is faster than ever, sci-entists reported recently.

The National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administrationsaid the average carbon diox-ide level for May was 419.13parts per million.

That's 1.82 parts per millionhigher than May 2020 and50% higher than the stablepre-industrial levels of 280parts per million, said NOAA

climate scientist Pieter Tans.

Carbon dioxide levelspeak every May just be-fore plant life in theNorthern Hemisphereblossoms, sucking some ofthat carbon out of the at-mosphere and into flow-ers, leaves, seeds andstems.

The reprieve is temporary,though, because emis-sions of carbon dioxidefrom burning coal, oil andnatural gas for transporta-tion and electricity far ex-ceed what plants can takein, pushing greenhousegas levels to new recordsevery year.

CO2 Levels Hit 50pc Higher ThanPreindustrial Time

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Japan’s MoE Adopts CompactLNG Station Project

Mitsubishi Corporation(MC) and Air Water Inc.

(Air Water) announced thattheir pilot project to help de-carbonize heavy-truck logis-tics has been adopted forinclusion in the Ministry ofthe Environment’s Low Car-bon Technology Researchand Development Program.

The project will fuel LNG-powered heavy trucks via anetwork of compact fillingstations, according to Mit-subishi Corporation.

The aims of this project aretwofold. Firstly, it will take ad-vantage of compact LNG fill-ing stations installed atspace-limited logistics facilitiesto optimize the fueling of LNGtrucks. The stations, which willbe networked through the ap-

plication of IoT technologies,will receive the fuel from large,LNG tanker trucks.

Secondly, by mixing the LNGwith biomethane, the projectwill endeavor to achieve sig-nificant reductions in CO2emissions compared to thosegenerated by conventional,diesel heavy trucks.

Since 2020, MC and Air Waterhave been testing this system inHokkaido. The partners plan tocontinue assessing its overalleffectiveness and how much itcan reduce CO2 emissionsand fuel costs typically gener-ated by heavy trucks.

The results of the tests willhelp the partners to deter-mine whether or not to makethe system commerciallyavailable.

Chevron Approves Proposal toCut Customer Emissions

Chevron Corp investorsvoted in favor of a proposalrecently asking the oil majorto cut its customer emissions,joining shareholders aroundthe globe in raising pressureon energy companies to re-duce their carbon footprint.

Shareholders voted 61% infavor of a proposal to cut socalled "Scope 3" emissions,generated by the use of itsproducts, according to a pre-liminary count announcedby Chevron at its annual gen-eral meeting.

Chevron's investor votecomes as a bitter shareholderrevolt at its closest rivalExxon Mobil Corp nears aconclusion.

The event will engage theleaders to help shape the

global, regional and localagenda in the energy sectorincluding Power, Energy Tran-sition, Oil & Gas, Renew-ables, Coal, DigitalTransformation among others.

Engine No. 1, a tiny activistfund, has proposed three ofits own nominees to Exxon'sboard and is arguing that thetop U.S. oil producer needs abetter response to growingclimate concerns.

While the "Scope 3" proposaldoes not require Chevron toset a target of how much itneeds to cut emissions or bywhen, the overwhelmingsupport for it shows growinginvestor frustration with com-panies, which they believeare not doing enough totackle climate change.

‘We Can Replace Fossil Fuels,Meet 1.5ºC Target with RE Only’

The world already hasmore than enough renew-

able energy potential to com-fortably make the transitionaway from fossil fuels whilealso expanding energy accessfor all, finds new analysis byDr Sven Teske and Dr SarahNiklas from the Institute forSustainable Futures, Univer-sity of Technology, Sydney.Fossil Fuel Exit Strategyshows clearly that, even if nonew fossil fuel projects werebuilt from today onwards,carbon emissions from exist-ing projects are still far toohigh to stay on course to-wards meeting the goals ofthe Paris Agreement.

Modelling in the reportdemonstrates the worldwould produce significantlymore fossil fuels than it can

afford under a 1.5ºC climategoal by 2030, leading to 66%more emissions in 2030 thanis compatible with 1.5ºC.

Therefore, the world needs toactively wind down existingcoal mines and oil and gaswells while increasing re-newable energy.

The report shows that thistransition is not only requiredbut completely feasible. Infact, all regions have enoughrenewable energy to provideenergy access to all using ex-isting technologies.

This suggests that it is possi-ble to meet the twin chal-lenges of phasing out fossilfuels and increasing electric-ity access at the speed re-quired through scaling uprenewable energy.

Global Leaders Call for Clean,Affordable Energy

Recognizing the urgentneed for action, leaders

from the United Nations, theprivate sector, national andlocal governments, youthand other organizations is-sued a joint call recently forcountries, businesses, citiesand civil society groups toput forward their “EnergyCompacts” to show how theywill achieve the goal ofclean, affordable energy forall by 2030 (SDG 7) and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Energy Compacts wouldprovide the clearest indicationof how countries will ensurethat all people have access toclean energy and move to-ward net-zero emissions.

The Compacts will be an-nounced between June andthe September UN High-

level Dialogue on Energy.The leaders issued their callin a video released recently.

“Global Champion” Minis-ters from over 30 countrieshave joined the call for urgentenergy action in advance ofthe High-level Dialogue,along with senior UN offi-cials, climate leaders includ-ing the Presidency of theCOP26 conference, CEOs,Mayors and youth activists.

“This year’s Dialogue is thebest chance for governments,businesses and other partnersto step up their commit-ments, if the world is toachieve clean, affordable en-ergy for all by the 2030 dead-line,” said Liu Zhenmin, UNUnder-Secretary-General forEconomic and Social Affairsand Secretary-General of theDialogue.

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Dhaka Hopes London toPromote Interest of CVCs: PM

Prime Minister SheikhHasina recently said

Bangladesh expects that theUnited Kingdom (UK) willpromote the interest and pri-orities of climate vulnerablecountries (CVCs) to the inter-national platforms.

The premier passed this re-marks while COP-26 Presi-dent-designate Alok Sharmacalled on her at her officialresidence Ganabhaban inDhaka.

“As the current Chair of Cli-mate Vulnerable Forum- CVF,Bangladesh expects UK topromote the interest and pri-orities of climate vulnerablecountries to the international

platforms,” said the PrimeMinister.Prime Minister’s Press Secre-tary Ihsanul Karim briefedmedia after the meeting.

Quoting Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, he saidBangladesh and some othercountries will be affectedhighly due to the adverse im-pact of global climatechange, althoughBangladesh’s carbon emis-sion is very much nominal.

During the meeting, AlokSharma hoped that as theCVF chair, Bangladesh underthe leadership of Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina wouldplay an important role on theclimate change.

They discussed about climatefund and other issues, saidKarim.

Alok Sharma put emphasison converting to green en-ergy from the existing energysystem.

54th Meeting of Board ofTrustees on Climate Change HeldThe 54th meeting of the

Board of Trustees ofBangladesh ClimateChange was held recently,with Environment, Forestand Climate Change Minis-ter Md Shahab Uddin pre-siding over it.

The minister attended thevirtual meeting from his of-fice room at the secretariat.

The meeting took importantdecisions including changingthe type of projects fundedby the trust fund to addressthe risks of climate change,an official release said.

Agriculture Minister MdAbdur Razzak, LGRD Min-ister Md Tajul Islam, For-eign Minister AK AbdulMomen, Food Minister Sad-han Chandra Majumder,State Minister for ShippingKhalid Mahmud Chowd-hury, State Minister forWater Resources Zahid Fa-rooq, State Minister for Dis-aster Management andRelief Dr Md Enamur Rah-man, State Minister for

Women and Children Af-fairs Fazilatun Nesa Indira,Deputy Minister for Envi-ronment, Forest and Cli-mate Change HabibunNahar, prominent water re-sources and climate changeexpert Ainun Nishat andother members of the boardattended the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion,Minister for Environment,Forest and Climate ChangeMd Shahab Uddin said thegovernment is continuingits efforts to invent jute bagsas an alternative to environ-ment polluting polythenebags.

“To this end, the govern-ment has provided neces-sary allocations to theconcerned innovatorsthrough the Climate ChangeTrust Fund. Due to somelimitations, it has not yetbeen possible to producebiodegradable polythenefrom jute for marketing. Theinventor is expected to beable to do this by June2022,” he said.

Exporters May Lose $18.7bAnnually If Carbon Goals Not MetLocal suppliers are at risk of

losing $18.7 billion worthof exports a year if they can'treduce carbon emissions inline with the plans of theirmajor clients, according to astudy by Standard Chartered.

The study -- Carbon Dated --looks at the risks and opportu-nities for suppliers in emerg-ing and fast-growing marketsas large corporates transitionto net-zero emission.

It says MNCs expect to ex-clude 35 per cent of theircurrent suppliers as they tran-sition away from carbon.

Supply chain emissions ac-count for an average of 73per cent of MNCs' total emis-sions. So, 67 per cent of

MNCs say tackling supplychains emissions is the firststep in their net-zero transi-tion, rather than focusing ontheir own carbon output, thestudy said.

Suppliers in 12 key emergingand fast-growing markets canshare in $1.6 trillion worth ofbusiness if they can remainpart of the MNC supplychains, said a press release ofStandard CharteredBangladesh, citing the study.

Racing against the clock to hit thenet-zero carbon goals, MNCs arepiling pressure on their suppliersto become more sustainable,with companies based in emerg-ing and fast-growing markets fac-ing the biggest challenge.

Reliance LNG Celebrates WorldEnvironment Day

Reliance BangladeshLNG and Power Lim-

ited has celebrated WorldEnvironment Day recentlyby planting trees at itsproject site with a com-mitment to make the earthgreener.

The employees of RelianceBangladesh LNG andPower Limited, SamsungC&T Corporation and othersub-contractors took part inthe plantation program,said a press release.

Reliance Bangladesh LNGand Power Limited, a718MW (Net) Gas BasedCCPP organized differentactivities in schools andvillages around the proj-ect site.

The company distributed500 saplings among of dif-ferent species among stu-dents and villagers aroundthe project area on the oc-casion of World Environ-ment Day.

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The world is getting ready forthe largest climate changeconference to be held in UK’s

Glasgow, the Global Green City, onNovember 1-2. With over 30,000delegates, including heads of stateand government, expected to attend,this will be the biggest-ever interna-tional conference the United King-dom has ever staged. The 26thversion of the UN Climate ChangeConference 2021, better known asCOP26, or Conference of Parties hasbeen delayed by a year because ofthe Covid-19 pandemic sweepingthe world.

So, the pandemic, its causes and ef-fects, will be overshadowing theconference as the delegates meet,either in-person or virtually. But themain focus of the conference will beto promote greater collaboration inareas of adaptation and resilience,climate finance, clean energy tran-sition, and nature-based solutions.

The delegates will take stock of theprogress the countries have madesince signing thelegally binding ParisAgreement on climatechange at COP21 inParis on 12 December2015.

That agreement cameinto force on Novem-ber 2016. What werethe targets the coun-tries had set to achieve?To limit global warm-ing to well below 2oCelsius, preferably to1.5 o Celsius, com-pared to pre-industriallevels. Now, the devel-oped countries are

pledging to achieve net zero carbonemission.

Unfortunately, the emergence ofDonald Trump as the president of theUnited States had proved greatly dis-ruptive. Trump pulled the US out ofthe accord hamstringing its imple-mentation. Trump, who never be-lieved in scientific fact of globalwarming, is gone. Joe Biden, who isa contrast to his predecessor, is in.Democratic Biden has returned to theParis agreement boldly declaring theUnited States is back. So far so good.

Role of Bangladesh:Bangladesh, a low-lying delta na-tion, has been on the spot even asthe preparations have started. A spe-cial focus has been on Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina as she is theleader of the Climate VulnerableForum comprising 48 most climate-vulnerable nations of the world.

Under Hasina’s leadership,Bangladesh has launched climateactions and is working closely withother CVF members to ensure they

take appropriate climate actionseven before the Glasgow confer-ence.

Today’s Bangladesh is rightly ad-mired as a role model of develop-ment. As a developing country thecountry has also set an example howto tackle global warming-relatednatural disasters like cyclones andfloods, maintaining of a perfectwarning system, building of cycloneshelters, evacuation of people aheadof the disasters, massive plantationof trees, especially along the coastand provision of relief so disaster-af-fected people.

All these have received praises fromAlok Sharma, the president-designateof COP26, during his visit toBangladesh in first week of June.During his meeting with Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina, he noted withsatisfaction Dhaka’s policy turn toboost renewable energy. He heardfrom the prime minister howBangladesh has installed 5.8 millionsolar plants and plans to expand it.

Wind power generation,in which the UK is alsoa partner, has now beenan area of great interest.

“I am inspired by theinnovative work I haveseen here to addresssome of the worst ef-fects of climate change,and hope thatBangladesh will con-tinue to lead by exam-ple ahead of COP26which is our best hopeof building a brighterfuture,” said Sharma be-fore departing fromBangladesh.

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Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and COP26 President­designate Alok Sharmapose for a photo during Sharma’s recent visit to Bangladesh

Several companies are in vari-ous stages of investing inelectric vehicles (EVs) — at-

tracting foreign investment andsetting up of plants. One of themis Bangladesh Auto Industries Lim-ited (BAIL) which had plans to gointo production in 2021, but thathas been delayed due to Covid-19.

Syed Mansur Hashim, Deputy Ed-itor of Energy & Power, talks toMr. Mir Masud Kabir, Co-founderand Managing Director of BAIL,about his company’s goals andplans to introduce a full-fledgedEV plant that will include produc-tion of Li-ion battery packs thatwill power these vehicles.

Pioneered the country's first pri-vate International Internet Gate-way (IIG) & contributed to makeinternet affordable, Mr. Masud isone of the co-funders of BAIL,BLBL, MTL & Mango Teleservices.

Why did you think that EV isneeded for Bangladesh?

First of all, EV will reduce the costof transport and logistics for peo-ple, a fundamental problem thatwe need to solve in our country.The fuel and maintenance costwill reduce by 90% (reductionfrom Tk 10 to Tk 1.0 per KM). Ini-tial purchase price will be 50%.

Second, the EV protects our

threatened and fragile environ-ment. EV does not use fossil fuel,there is no CO2 emission. It is aclean environment-friendly vehi-cle. Our environment in pollutedcities would be better. EV will cre-ate a positive impact on globalwarming, there will be less possi-bility of sea level increase whichcan save our country in the longrun. Each EV use is equivalent to10 tree plantation for environ-ment.

Above all, EV and automobilecomponents can be the most suc-cessful export sector in our coun-try. The world needs to replace1.4 billion conventional vehiclesin next 30-40 years. We can ad-dress that market with right initia-tives & policy support. We aretaking a small step which can bethe starting of a giant leap for thecountry.

Why are you thinking of manu-facturing EVs in Bangladesh?

We successfully pioneered thetransformation of internet commu-nication sector in Bangladeshwith our mother company Mango,made it affordable for the people.Which eventually changed ourlives. As part of a generation ofentrepreneurs who took a lead inthe digital transformation in thiscountry, my partner and I havenever shied away from taking a

leap of faith into new frontiers.Our telecom business took us toChina on a regular basis and backin 2013-2014, we found that EVswere growing, we observed Tesla& Nissan taking similar steps inUSA, we felt, could be replicatedin Bangladesh. We came to theconclusion that we must look intothis seriously and started our re-search and development (R&D).We see a global transformation in

Mir Masud Kabir

I think the government is willingto support this sector as it has

tremendous value proposition. Itshall protect our environment

and reduce the cost of transportand logistics for people. We willalso save foreign currency fromimport of fossil fuel needed for

conventional cars.

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Interview

June 16, 2021

BAIL to Set UP EVManufacturing Plant

automobile sector with smart EVs.We strongly believe thatBangladesh can become a hub ofthis transformation. That is thereal driving force for us.

How did you go about takingthat idea further?

We started to build relationshipswith all stakeholders in the supplychain of EVs and started R&D.Our efforts were hampered by alack of human resources inBangladesh. So, they had to besourced from abroad. When Teslacame to the market in 2015, theycreated a stir. But what was hap-pening in China was even moreastounding. BYD came in with awhole range of EVs, from sedancars to buses, and it came at atime when Chinese authoritieswere looking for a more environ-mentally-friendly, non-pollutingsolution to deal with the deadlysmog that was engulfing itsmegacities.

Cities like Shenzhen, Beijing,Shanghai were becoming unliv-able. BYD cars were not clunky,odd shaped vehicles. Rather, theywere at part with current designtrends of conventional vehicles —minus the carbon-dioxide emit-ting engines. City authoritieshelped in a big way. You could geta license plate for an EV immedi-ately, whereas, a prospectivebuyer of a conventional car wouldhave to wait months to get one.Then there is a government sub-sidy of up to USD 10,000. Suchpro-EV policies actually encour-aged many companies to start pro-ducing EVs. We studied thetrajectory of all these companiesand took lessons.

Tell us how you moved fromyour research to productplanning?

We initiated the product ideas inhouse. We developed designs &supply chain by engaging withmultiple global automotive designhouses. One top tier executive inthe Chinese auto industry helpedus, he is with us till now. Throughhim we met a faculty of WuhanUniversity and started our battery,motor, controller & charger R&D.

Your production layout covers dif-ferent units. Battery, Motor Con-trol and Charger. Tell us moreabout this.

Our EV manufacturing companyis BAIL. We decided to manufac-ture the crucial components ofEV, battery and motor- con-troller. That will be done by 2different companies set up byus; Bangladesh Lithium BatteriesLtd (BLBL) & Mango Technolo-gies Ltd (MTL). BAIL has stamp-ing, welding, painting &assembly line like any standardcar manufacturer.

We developed SUV, Sedan,Hatchback, Microbus (MPV) andMini-truck prototypes. We havedeveloped multiple EV 3 wheelers& motor bikes prototypes too. OurR&D helped us developed EVssuitable for our roads utilizing theexisting supply chain of compo-nents.

What sort of policy supportare you hoping for as aprospective manufacturer ofEVs in Bangladesh? Is the gov-ernment planning to provide asubsidy regime for this nas-cent sector?

I think the government is willingto support this sector as it hastremendous value proposition. Itshall protect our environment andreduce the cost of transport andlogistics for people. We will alsosave foreign currency from import

of fossil fuel needed for conven-tional cars.

We strongly feel that the govern-ment should give incentive topeople of the country to use EVslike they are doing for agriculturalmachinery. They can provide cashsubsidy and withdraw AIT, regis-tration, fitness, and route permitfees for EVs. Low-cost financingfor EV purchase could be madeavailable for the vehicle owners.

The government may provideus R&D grant enabl ing us totarget the g lobal market andbecome sus ta inable long- termsector in the country. The gov-ernment may send 5,000 peo-ple for on the job t ra in ing inautomot ive and EV indus t ryouts ide Bangladesh. That wi l lbecome our future s t rength.

From a manufacturer s ide, wereques t to extend the exis t ingmotor cycle impor t duty, VAT& tax regime across all EVs andi t s crucia l component manu-facturing.

Are you going to have remov-able battery packs for your ve-hicles? What are your plans forcharging stations? Will charg-ing stations be fossil-fuel basedor are you talking about renew-ables like solar?

Light EVs like 3 wheelers &motor bikes will have removablebattery packs. We are workingon countryside charging facilitycreation through automatedApp. Most of the charging sta-tions will have partial renewableenergy input, especially solar.

Charging s tat ions wil l charge avehicle in 15 minutes. Anyonecan charge thei r vehic le a thome too, which may take 3-5hours.

46June 16, 2021

EP