Crisis management stressed to solve energy crunch

FE Report

State Minister for Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Enamul Haque said Saturday Bangladesh has to take a raft of pragmatic programmes to solve its nagging energy crisis.

"We have to put emphasis on crisis management side by side with the implementation of short, mid and long-term initiatives to solve the acute crisis," he said at a seminar in the city.

Mechanical Engineering Divisional Committee of Engineers Institution of Bangladesh organised the seminar styled 'Gas Reserve and its Optimum Utilisation' at the institution with its president Dr Eng SM Nazrul Islam in the chair.

Eng Muinul Ahsan, former director of Bangladesh Mineral Oil and Gas Corporation (Petrobangla) and Moinul Haque, former general manager of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Ltd (BAPEX) presented papers.

Speaking as chief guest, Enamul Haque said the country's energy sector has problems. "We have to judiciously use our meager energy resources."

"We have to go for conservation of energy for future use," the state minister said.

He said the government has to ensure energy supply to implement its vision of Digital Bangladesh and achieve economic growth.

"We have to ensure the sustainability of the programmes we have taken up to solve the crisis. We have to work on ensuring optimum utilisation of the limited energy resources."

"We have to move forward in a pragmatic way," the minister said.

Muinul Ahsan, former director of Petrobangla, said the country's overall energy picture is bleak. "Bangladesh will not be able to come out of the current energy crisis before 2013, as the shortfall is likely to linger."

"We cannot expect much from onshore sources. We may get gas from the Bay of Bengal but that also depends on further explorations."

Bangladesh has to resolve its maritime disputes with Myanmar and India before expecting gas from the Bay, he said.

The former Petrobangla official said Bangladesh has to look for alternative fuel sources instead of relying on gas for power generation.

"Liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be an effective solution and we have to quickly take a decision to this effect," he said.

"The savings from LNG imports can be diverted to areas such as western region and Titas areas where gas is in high demand."

He said: "Nuclear, solar and wind power can be other alternatives the government can think of."

In his presentation, Muinul Ahsan said, "We have to take decision on coal as we have proven reserve of coal which is equivalent to 65 tcf of gas. Of the coal reserve, around one-fourth can be extracted."

He suggested diverting gas from fertiliser factories to other industrial units, as the government would be able to import fertiliser from abroad.