The Bangladesh government has built many power plants in recent years, but without corresponding investments to enhance the efficiency and functionality of the transmission and distribution systems. Without simultaneous, stepwise improvements in transmission, we risk a capacity logjam by only increasing production capacity, be it in renewables or fossil fuel. Regular planned power outages (load-shedding) while the existing power plants operate below capacity indicate an inadequate transmission system. However, another important cause of below-capacity production is the rising costs of importing coal, gas, and oil amid the growing foreign exchange reserve crisis. This further emphasises the need for diversifying domestic energy sources into renewables, especially because the country’s existing gas reserve is dwindling and new exploration is not yet on the horizon.
The Bangladesh government has built many power plants in recent years, but without corresponding investments to enhance the efficiency and functionality of the transmission and distribution systems. Without simultaneous, stepwise improvements in transmission, we risk a capacity logjam by only increasing production capacity, be it in renewables or fossil fuel. Regular planned power outages (load-shedding) while the existing power plants operate below capacity indicate an inadequate transmission system. However, another important cause of below-capacity production is the rising costs of importing coal, gas, and oil amid the growing foreign exchange reserve crisis. This further emphasises the need for diversifying domestic energy sources into renewables, especially because the country’s existing gas reserve is dwindling and new exploration is not yet on the horizon.
