Energy Bangla

Bangladesh wants to buy 500 MW of electricity from the Upper Karnali and Upper Marsyangdi-II hydro-power projects in Nepal.power divisions officials said. Bangladesh has evinced interest in buying electricity from the 600 MW Upper Marsyangdi-II hydro-power project, jointly developed by the Nepal Purchase Energy Limited with Indian infrastructure major GMR Group and International Finance Corporation (IFC). The GMR is also scheduled to build the 900 MW Upper Karnali hydro-power project... »

National Committee to Protect Oil and Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports will hold an demonstration on Mar 24 to protest the recent hike in power prices. The citizen’s platform Member Secretary Anu Mohammad on 14th March said a rally would be held in front of the National Press Club. Further agitation programmes would be announced from rally, he said while speaking at an event at Mukti Bhaban, in Dhaka.... »

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has increased the retail power tariff by 6.96% per unit (kilowatt-hour) on an average, with the price rising from Tk5.75 to Tk6.15; a price hike of Tk0.40. BERC has also introduced a new slab of “lifeline tariff” for domestic power users who consume between 1-50 units. For this group of consumers, the power price was not increased; meaning a consumer would have to pay between... »

The government has begun a fresh negotiation with the private power suppliers to extend the contracts by up to five years in wake of its failure to set up new plants. On 9th March, the power division officials held a meeting with two power suppliers, Aggreko International for its 145 MW gas-fired plant at Ghorashal and NEPC for its 110 MW furnace oil-fired plant at Haripur, to extend their contracts.... »

The DPDC, however, had proposed to raise it by 23.50 percent on 5th March, the second day of the public hearing organised by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC). But the BERC evaluation committee recommended an increase of 6.03 percent. Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh adviser Shamsul Alam, Communist Party leader Ruhin Hossain Prince and leftist platform Gana Shanghati Andalan’s coordinator Jonayed Saki opposed the hike in the hearing. BERC Chairman... »

Power Development Board (PDB) and West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC) on 4 March proposed increasing electricity tariff by 15.50 percent and 8.59 percent respectively to help them cut growing losses. In reply, the technical committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) said the regulator might consider increasing the retail tariff by 6.66 percent on average for PDB customers and 7.51 percent for WZPDC customers. But consumer rights groups... »

The Cabinet Purchase Committee approved on 2 march proposals of the Power Division to extend contracts with two more rental power plants to purchase electricity for next five years. These two power projects are Max Power Ltd’s 78.5 MW plant at Ghorasal in Narsingdi and DPA Power Generation’s 50 MW plant at Pagla in Narayanganj. After the cabinet body’s nod, the government will need to pay a total of Tk... »

NAY PYI TAW, March 4, 2014: Bangladesh today obtained an assurance from India to get 100-MW power from Tripura grid to meet its growing demand. Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in response to a request from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, gave the assurance in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 3rd BIMSTEC Summit here. After the meeting, Bangladesh PM’s Special Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil briefed reporters. He... »

The World Bank Board has approved $ 600 million for Bangladesh to improve the country’s “quality” of power supply in rural areas. The funds would be used in the Rural Electricity Transmission and Distribution Project “to reduce system losses and enhance capacity” in the electricity network, the global lender said in a media release on Friday. Only 42 percent of the rural Bangladesh currently has access to electricity, according to... »

Power subsidy stands Tk 2834.26 crore during last seven months of this fiscal since July’13 to January’14. According to the BPDB officials, the board incurred a loss of Tk 344.38 crore in each of December’13 and January this year for selling power with Tk 1.36 per unit bulk tariff gap, as the board has to purchase electricity at higher rates than its gets by selling to its consumers. The BPDB... »