UNB, Dhaka
There is no concrete action plan in sight to tackle the looming power and gas crises even though the country has started seeing load-shedding well before the summer.
Power and Energy Ministry officials said the country is set to face a severe energy crisis as the policymakers of the new government are now trying to get familiar with the activities of the Power and Energy Ministry and its subordinate bodies rather than going into actions. The summer usually starts in mid-March and continues until mid-October.
In the summer, according to the officials, the power shortage will exceed 2000 megawatt (MW) as its demand might go up to 5,000 MW this time while the gas shortage will be around 300 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) against the demand for 2,200 MMCFD.
They said the power production has already marked a fall by more than 500 MW well before the summer, indicating that the worse days are lying ahead.
Ahead of summer, the Power and Energy Ministry always arranges a coordination meeting among the entities to evolve strategies to tackle the crisis. Accordingly, it held a coordination meeting recently and decided to set up a control room and monitoring cells both at the Power and Energy Divisions.
But, industry insiders think holding such a meeting and taking decision to set up monitoring cell or control room are not good enough to deal with the situation as these are a very common practice.
They feel that the government needs to be more serious and come up with some concrete programmes and strategies to improve the situation. They said there should be a very strong coordination between power and energy sectors because power generation is almost dependent on gas supply. “Any shortage or disruption in gas supply greatly affects the power production,” said an expert.
He said the government should think how promptly it can implement the ongoing projects taken by the previous government to address the crises.
The projects include a number of small independent power producer (IPP) plants, the 90MW Fenchuganj power plant, the 240MW Siddhirganj plant and the 100MW Sikalbaha plant. But, many of these projects are facing various problems.
The 90MW Fenchuganj project, for instance, was installed a few months back. But this project could not start commercial operation because of a tax-related wrangling with the government.
Similarly, the 240MW Siddhirganj power plant is planned to come into operation in June. But, non-availability of gas may make the operation of its two units uncertain. Some of the small IPPs are facing another type of problem.
Former caretaker government adviser Prof Tamim, also an energy and power sector expert, told UNB that the government has to put in place a demand-driven management plan and implement that strictly.
“The projects now under implementation have to be completed in time. It also has to be cautious so that there is no interruption in gas supply and breakdown in power plant operation,” he said.
Prime Minister’s Adviser Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, now overseeing the power and energy sector, said the government is planning to tackle the situation. “We’ll come up with our plan within two weeks,” he told the UNB correspondent.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
