Bangladesh Looks to Neighbors to Bridge 5-Gigawatt Demand-Supply Gap

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Bangladesh is planning to source about 5 gigawatts (GWs) of power from its neighboring nations like India, Nepal and Bhutan over the next few years to meet an estimated power demand of 17.3 gigawatts (GW) by 2020. The country currently imports 500 megawatts (MW) of power from India and plans to import another 600 MW by 2016, out of which a supply of 100 MW is expected soon from ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited's 726-MW power plant in the north-eastern India.

Bangladesh, which faces a hefty power shortage of 1.5-2 GW during the peak demand hours, has drawn up an ambitious plan to increase its installed base to 13 GW from 7 GW in the next 4 to 5 years. The country currently has an available installed capacity of only 5.5 GW.

As per the country's Power System Master Plan (PSMP) released in 2010, the peak demand for the country is expected to reach 17,304 MW by 2020. So, even considering 100%-realization of its capacity addition goals, the country will fall short of the projected demand by about 4.7 GW, which will further widen as the demand is anticipated to exceed 25 GW by 2025.

Bangladesh's economy is growing at about 6% a year and would have greater appetite for sourcing energy from India. For India, Bangladesh is a nearby ready market for the energy produced in the North Eastern region, which is geographically disconnected from the industrial hubs in the country.

Bangladesh is exploring co-operation in the energy sector which also covers exploration of oil and gas and joint development of hydro-power with India. Bangladesh is planning to meet half of its projected incremental power demand in the next 10 years through mutual collaboration with India, Nepal and Bhutan.

According to Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Energy Advisor to the Bangladesh's Prime Minister Seikh Hasina, Dhaka is bullish on enhancing the scope of energy cooperation with Delhi.

While India has granted in-principle approval to Bangladesh's request to enhance thermal power sales from 500 MW to 1,100 MW, mostly through open market purchase, discussions are also on to collaborate in harnessing hydro and renewable energy sources.

Bangladesh is also exploring the possibility of setting up a 1,320-megawatt (MW) thermal power project through a joint venture in India and transmitting the power back to Bangladesh. To this regard, Chowdhury has recently handed over a proposal to Indian Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Minister, Piyush Goyal, requesting allocation of a suitable coal block to meet the fuel-need for the proposed project.

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