M2K TECHNOLOGY & TRADING CO., BANGLADESH.

M2K TECHNOLOGY & TRADING CO. PTE LTD., SINGAPORE.

WE REPRESENT:

Phenix Technologies Inc., USA. Phenix Systems AG, Switzerland. www.phenixtech.com & www.phenixsystems.com

Doble Engineering Company., USA. www.doble.com

Vanguard Instruments Company Inc., USA. www.vanguard-instruments.com

Manta Test Systems Inc., USA. www.mantatest.com

Morgan Schaffer, Canada. www.morganschaffer.com

Globecore GmbH, Germany. www.globecore.de

Larsen & Toubro Limited, India. www.lntebg.com

Powerchina Nuclear Engineering Company Limited, P.R. China. www.powerchina-ne.com

SINGAPORE:

Block 428, Clement i Avenue 3 # 10-430, Singapore-120428.

Tel:+65-8299-8715 E-mail: info@m2kttc.com Website: www.m2kttc.com

BANGLADESH:

Amin Court Building (2nd floor), 62-63 Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka -1000, Bangladesh.

Tel :+880-2-5716-0955 Fax : +880-2-5716-0966 E-mail : m2kttc@gmail.com

As Bangladesh steps into its 50th year of independence, it’s time to recap on itsachievements, primarily in the Energy sector. The power sub-sector has also beendeveloping at an accelerated pace for the last 12 years. Prior to Awami Leaguetaking office in 2009, the power generation capacity was also growing but at asnail’s pace. It was even slower than the electricity demand growth, and almostentirely dependent on domestic primary fuel resources, mainly natural gas.

By adopting necessary policy interventions, the government drive to increasepower generation yielded expected results. This however, has come at anincrease price since primary fuel supply has diversified to more expensiveimports to supplant dwindling natural gas reserves. The nagging question ofcaptive power generation is one of some of the pressing issues that still needsaddressing.

Experts and policymakers at a recent discussion reached a general consensusthat it is time to prioritize affordability of energy supply. The fuel mix requiresrestructuring through moving away from import-dependence to greaterutilization of local resources, onshore and offshore natural gas exploration andto renewables to a lesser degree.

Fortnightly Magazine, Vol 18, Issue 14, January 1-15

25 9

EditorMollah M Amzad Hossain

Advisory EditorAnwarul Islam TarekMortuza Ahmad FaruqueSaiful Amin

International EditorDr. Nafis Ahmed

Contributing EditorsSaleque Sufi

Online EditorGSM Shamsuzzoha (Nasim)

Managing EditorAfroza Hossain

Deputy EditorSyed Mansur Hashim

ReportersArunima Hossain

Assistant Online EditorAditya Hossain

Design & GraphicsMd. Monirul Islam

PhotographyBulbul Ahmed

ProductionMufazzal Hossain Joy

Computer GraphicsMd. Uzzal Hossain

Circulation AssistantKhokan Chandra Das

Editorial, News & CommercialRoom 509, Eastern Trade Center56 Inner Circular Road (VIP Road)Naya Paltan. GPO Box : 677Dhaka-1000, BangladeshTel & Fax : 88-02-58314532Email: ep@dhaka.netenergypower@gmail.comWebsite: www.ep-bd.com

PriceBangladesh: Tk 50, SAARC: US$ 6,Asia: US$ 8, Europe: US$ 10, NorthAmerica, Africa & Australia: US$ 14

Amid a government move to ad-minister the price of LPG due towidespread allegations of manip-ulation, the LOAB President saidthey are not against automaticprice formulation, but against fix-ing price arbitrarily. LOAB alsowants the government to care-fully examine applications fornew licenses as the market is al-ready oversaturated, creating un-healthy competition ...Azam Chowdhury tells the EP

The substations in Dhaka wouldget power supply from dualsources within a year and, at thesame time, the utility companiesare now focusing on upgradingand modernizing the distributionsystem while taking an initiativeto lay cables underground in anattempt to ensure uninterruptedsupply of quality electricity tothe consumers, including indus-tries...for more on Special Report

Considering the downside risks of thepower sector development and for thesake of its sustainability, experts at a vir-tual discussion suggested making energysupply ‘affordable’ for ensuring overallsustainable development of the country.As a strategy, they suggested restructuringthe fuel mix for power generation withlocal resources available, and expeditingexploration activities in the onshore andoffshore areas.

49

C o n t e n t s

Contents

Encouraged by the readers and patrons, the EP would continue bringingout Green Pages to contribute to the country’s efforts in its journeytowards environment-friendly energy.

5 WORLD WATCH

Latest Development in

World

6 SNAPSHOT

Latest Development

9 COVER

Time’s Up To Set Fuel

Mix Right

15 COVER ARTICLE

2021 Challenges of Energy

Sector

19 WEBINAR

Experts for LPG Pricing

Formula

21 VIEWS

Rationales of LPG Pricing

in Bangladesh

25 SPECIAL REPORT

Utilities Now Focus on

Improving Power Distribution

System

29 ARTICLE

Payra Power Plant: A National

Benchmark

33 ARTICLE

Open Cut Mining ­ Option for

Domestic Coal Development

35 REPORT

Rebound in Global Coal

Demand Set to be Short­Lived

in 2021: IEA

36 Electricity Access Wipes Out

Poverty: Mannan

37 BPDB to Sell 3.43cr Shares of

Power Grid

38 Rosatom’s Year of Nuclear

43 SDGs

SDG Implementation

Challenges in Face of Climate

Vulnerability and Covid

45 WORLD

Impact of Covid­19 on

Oil Demand to Continue

Even After 2021

46 CLIMATE

PM Urges Developed Nations

to Fulfill Climate Pledges

47 Biden Unveils Climate Team

48 EU Green Transition Fund Will

Not Support Natural Gas

49 INTERVIEW

Azam J. Chowdhury Founder

& Chairman, East Coast

Group, President, LPG

Operators’ Association of

Bangladesh (LOAB)

39 'Irrigation, EV Sectors

Should be the Focus

Areas of Solar Energy'

41 Green Energy Getting a

Shot in the Arm

41 PowerCell Receives Order

for Two Fuel Cell Systems

41 Japan’s RE Sector Seeks

Carbon­Neutral Windfall

5

Worldwatch

January 1, 2021

Russian gas giantGazprom incurreda loss of 251.3 bil-lion roubles ($3.3

billion) in the third quarter due to the weak rouble, the com-pany said recently, while it also raised its outlook for gas ex-ports to Europe, a key source of revenue.

The loss is compared to a net profit of 211.8 billion roubles inthe same three months of 2019.

Russian companies, which carry debt denominated in foreigncurrency, have suffered losses due to the devaluation of theRussian rouble, which fell due to the pandemic.

Gazprom Swings to NetLoss of $3.3 bln in Q3

Coal-dependent EU mem-ber Poland aims to shut itslast mine by the bloc's2050 target, but expertswarn the move to go greencomes late and faces manyhurdles.

Despite three decades of successful market reforms and stronggrowth since its transition from communism to democracy,Poland still relies on coal for around 80 percent of its power.

Its massive Belchatow brown coal-fired power station is the Eu-ropean Union's "single largest greenhouse gas emitter", accord-ing to the EU and several global environmental associations.

A relic of the communist era, Belchatow is fueled by a vastnearby strip-mine and covers around 20 percent of Poland's en-ergy needs.

Poland would have had to begun weaning itself off coaldecades ago to meet EU net-zero emissions targets, accordingto Professor Piotr Skubala, from the Silesian University in theheart of the southern coal region.

Poland Eyes Hard Split with Coal

Oil marketing companies continued to hold back any changein the retail price of petrol and diesel continuing with their waitand watch stance that has kept the prices of the two auto fuelsstatic for the past seven days.

Accordingly, there was no change in the retail price of auto fuelson Monday with the price of petrol remaining at Rs 83.71 a literand diesel Rs 73.87 a liter in Delhi. Across the country as wellthe price of the two petroleum products remained unchanged.

Oil Marketing Companies Continueto Hold Petrol, Diesel Price Rise

President Vladimir Putin said recently that the Russian budgetwas becoming less dependent on oil and gas, key exports forone of the world's dominant petro-economies.

Putin told reporters during a marathon end-of-year press con-ference it was clearly positive that, "70 percent of the Russianbudget is not formed by oil and gas revenues".

"We are not completely there, but still we are starting to get offthe so-called oil and gas needle," he said.

The Russian leader acknowledged however that his country'sdependence on hydrocarbons was "still very high".

Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Ara-bia and its budget is heavily reliant on hydrocarbons.

Putin Says Russia ReducingDependence on Oil, Gas

Tens of millions across China are facing power shortages inbelow-freezing winter temperatures, as three provinces im-pose curbs on electricity use due to surging demand and asqueezed coal supply.

Residents, factories and businesses in Hunan, Zhejiang andJiangxi provinces have been ordered to ration electricity withsome areas citing a shortfall in coal supplies, according tolocal media reports and government notices.

China’s rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic has beendriven by energy intensive industries such as construction,heaping pressure on the power grid and coal supplies, saidLauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research onEnergy and Clean Air.

Earlier this month, Hunan authorities ordered all billboardsand outdoor lighting on buildings to power off for long periodseach day and a temperature cap on indoor heating at enter-tainment venues.

Millions Facing Winter PowerShortage in China

Norwegian operator Østensjø Rederi has selected Wärtsilä’sHybrid Upgrade solution for retrofitting two offshore construc-tion vessels.

The upgrades should lead to reduced use of the ships’ engine,correspondingly lower levels of exhaust emissions while op-erating in DP mode, and lower emission levels in all other op-erational modes.

Both the Edda Fauna and Edda Flora were built in 2008. Wärt-silä’s solution will include its new electronic DC bus-link, saidto allow a vessel to operate in DP-2 and -3 modes with aclosed DC bus in hybrid, and an open bus on the AC system.

Reduced running of the engines saves fuel and lessens the car-bon footprint, the company added, while engine maintenancerequirements are also alleviated.

All equipment should be delivered in January.

Wärtsilä Retrofit to Lower OffshoreVessels’ Emissions

6

Snapshot

January 1, 2021

Prime Minister’s Energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhuryinstructed for intensifying monitoring to ensure uninterruptedsupply of energy during feed Boro irrigation season.

The instruction came up at an inter-ministerial meetingchaired by state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid.

“Agriculture is our economic lifeline. So, timely supply of oiland natural gas has to be ensured for electricity generation tofeed the irrigation,” said Elahi, who attended the meeting asthe chief guest.

He said, “It’s necessary to intensify monitoring where there ispossibility of disruption of supply.”

He asked to adopt the energy saving equipment in agricul-ture.

Attended at the meeting, state minister for power and energyNasrul Hamid said our farmers have activated the economicwheel amid COVID-19 crisis.

He assured of ensuring uninterrupted supply of electricity andfuel for irrigation purpose.

Energy Supply Monitoring to beStrengthened Amid Boro Season

The govern-ment hase x t e n d e dthe appoint-

ment of Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the PrimeMinister, for the next two years.

The Public Administration Ministry issued a notification inthis regard recently.

On December 29, 2019, the government appointed DrKaikaus as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

PM’s Principal Secy KaikausGets Extension for 2 Yrs

Summit PowerLimited (SPL)has approved atotal 35% cash

dividend i.e. inclusive of 15% interim cash dividendand 20% final cash dividend to its shareholders for theyear ended on 30th June 2020.

The dividend was approved in the presence of theCompany’s shareholders at its 23rd Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM) held recently.

Muhammed Aziz Khan, Chairman of Summit PowerLimited (SPL) at its 23rd AGM said, “Already 170 mil-lion people have access to electricity in Bangladesh.But for us to provide uninterrupted quality power sup-ply to industries we need to further develop our trans-mission and distribution networks. We would urge thegovernment to also privatize transmission and distribu-tion of electricity.”

Presided over by Chairman of Summit Power LimitedMuhammed Aziz Khan, the virtual meeting was at-tended by Vice Chairman Md Latif Khan, Director An-juman Aziz Khan, Director Md. Farid Khan, DirectorFinance Ayesha Aziz Khan, Director Faisal Karim Khan,Director Azeeza Aziz Khan, Managing Director Lt.Gen. (Retd.) Engr. Abdul Wadud, Independent DirectorFaruq Ahmed Siddiqi, Director Helal Uddin Ahmed,Director Arif Al Islam, Independent Director JunayedAhmed Chowdhury and Financial Controller & Com-pany Secretary Swapon Kumar Pal FCA along withother senior officials

Summit Power Approves35% Cash Dividend

A webinar onBlue Economyin Post Covid-19 Era: Re-

silience Strategies for the Coastal States organized byBangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University(BSMRMU) was held on the campus recently, says a pressrelease.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was present as the chiefguest at the event while Deputy Education Minister BarristerMohibul Hasan Chowdhury attended it as special guest.

BSMRMU Vice Chancellor Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal de-livered wel-come speech.

The ForeignMinister in hisspeech stressedthe importanceof regional vi-sion of the blueeconomy.

BSMRMU Holds Webinaron Blue Economy

The 3lst An-nual GeneralMeeting (AGM)of Bangladesh

Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd.(BAPEX) recently announced a net profit after tax ofTk. 13.99 Crore.

The AGM was held at Bapex Board Room (Online Plat-form), at Kawran Bazar in the capital, says a press re-lease.

The Shareholders and members of Board of Directorsof the company attended the meeting presided over byMr. Md. Anisur Rahman, Chairman of BAPEX Boardand Senior Secretary, Energy & Mineral Resources Di-vision.

The Audited Accounts for the fiscal year 2019-2020 ofthe Company was approved by the Shareholders at31st AGM. During the financial year total Income &Expenditure of the Company was Tk 482.21 Crore andTk 460,39 Crore respectively.

BAPEX Posts Tk 13.99crNet Profit in 2019-20

8

Snapshot

January 1, 2021

Information Center on Nuclear Energy (ICONE) in Dhaka andPublic Information Center on Nuclear (PIC) in Ishwardi(Pabna) have jointly organized a spectacular online event se-ries on December 17-18, 2020 to promote nuclear energy andscience among mass people here.

The event “Nuclear and Science Days” was created to gener-ate interest about this comparatively unknown branch of sci-ence as well as the clean, green, and efficient form of energylike nuclear and importance of Rooppur Nuclear PowerPlant in the national plan implementation to achieve energysecurity, said a release.

In 2020, Nuclear and Science Days was held online for thefirst time.

The program of the festival included six events, all were heldonline and broadcasted on Facebook. Among the events ‘Ex-pert Talk on Food Irradiation’ was broadcasted live.

Other events were ‘Expert Talk on History and Future of Roop-pur NPP’, ‘Cycling with Dosimeters’, ‘Visit at ICONE of fa-mous influencer Keto Bhai’, ‘Social awareness on nuclear: atour of the streets in Ishwardi’ and Special debate on ‘Super-heroes and Science’.

Virtual ‘Nuclear and ScienceDays’ Events Held in City

Bangladesh’s largest solar power plant in Mymensingh is fullyinstalled with the Huawei Smart photovoltaic (PV) solution,that is supplying electricity to grid recently.

The 73 MW PV power plant would help meet the govern-ment’s target of generating 10 percent of the country’s totalelectricity using renewable energy by 2021, said a release.

A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system,is a power system designed to supply usable solar power bymeans of photovoltaics.

It consists of an arrangement of several components, includ-ing solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity,a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternatingcurrent, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical ac-cessories to set up a working system.

Bangladesh is a typical South Asian country where it enjoysup to 2,500 hours of sunshine per year but with a humid andhot climate.

With this in mind, the Mymensingh power plant has chosenHuawei Smart PV string inverters, SUN2000-185KTL with IP66high-level protection, and Anti-PID technologies to safeguardthe smooth running of the plant with the highest yields possible.

Mymensingh Solar PlantSupplying Power to Grid

North Eastern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO)will provide 100 per cent cash dividend to BangladeshPower Development Board (BPDB). They made a profit ofTk 6.51 crore during the last financial year.

NESCO made the disclosure at a recent meeting marking the15th Anniversary of the company.

Speakers at the program focused more on achieving cus-tomers' satisfaction rather than earning profit.

Considering the balanced development of the country,NESCO is moving forward, said Secretary of Department ofPower under Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Re-sources Habibur Rahman.

"The customer-friendly approach will be further accelerated.Delivering quality electricity to everyone's homes is anotherpromise of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We have towork together to achieve that goal, he added.

Bangladesh Power Development Board Chairman BelayetHossain presided over the meeting while Additional Secre-tary and NESCO Ltd Chairman KM Humayun Kabir waspresent as special guest.

NESCO to Provide 100pcCash Dividend

Gas cylinder accidents occur very often for not following therules of using gas cylinders properly, said a handout recently.

It added that in order to raise public awareness in this regard,the Department of Explosives, Energy and Mineral Resourceshas appealed to the public to take the following precautionsregarding the proper use of LPG cylinders.

These are: Opening the doors or windows before turning ongas cylinder or stove, Lighting the match stick first before light-ing the stove, turning off the oven first after cooking, then turn-ing off the cylinder connection, preserving the cylinderstraight or upright; storing the cylinder in a place having ven-tilation facilities, using a regulator compatible with the cylin-der valve and refraining from using all electrical appliancesincluding light fans, if you smell gas.

Authority Urges Gas CylinderUsers to Take Precautions

9

Cover

January 1, 2021

Bangladesh has stepped into its 50th year of independ-ence. During this period, the country has achieved lotof socio-economic developments since then which are

well acclaimed by the world community. These developmentswould not have taken place unless the energy sector wit-nessed a significant progress too. The power subsector hasalso been developing at an accelerated pace for the last 12years. Before this period, the country’s power generation ca-pacity was also growing but at a snail’s pace. It was evenslower than the electricity demand growth, and almost en-tirely dependent on domestic primary fuel resources, mainlynatural gas - that too was discovered mostly before the inde-pendence of the country. The electricity price was muchlower then, but the country had to suffer a serious setback dueto severe supply shortage.

Immediately after taking office in 2009,the new government had taken contin-gency measures by adopting necessarypolicies to quickly increase the powergeneration and meet the underserveddemand. The initiatives yielded ex-pected results and the generation ca-pacity by now stood apparently atmuch higher level than that of the de-mand while the supply coverage al-ready reaching almost 100 percent ofthe country. However, the price of elec-tricity also accelerated at the samepace dueto import of primary energy,mainly fuel oil, at much higher costthan the domestic natural gas for powergeneration. The price escalation of theelectricity, as an obvious consequence,also caused discomfort to the con-sumers — the industrial consumers hav-ing captive generation facilities withdomestic natural gas supplies are noteven willing to take power supply fromthe grid mainly due to higher cost.Power supply disruption is anothercause though.

Considering the downside risks of thedevelopment in the power subsectorand for the sake of its sustainability, ex-perts at a virtual discussion on Decem-ber 20, 2020 stressed the need formaking energy supply ‘affordable’ to allcategories of the consumers — fromhouseholds to industries — for ensuringoverall sustainable development of thecountry. As a strategy, they suggestedrestructuring the fuel mix for powergeneration with local resources avail-able, and expediting exploration activ-ities in the onshore and offshore areas,which has largely been neglected forlast 50 years, barring few exceptions.

“We must review the fuel mix in thecontext of our affordability. Time hascome to think seriously about it. Wecan only give priority to importedLNG if the long-term LNG price isless than natural gas from deep off-shore,” former Principal Secretary tothe Prime Minister’s Office and for-mer Power Division Secretary AbulKalam Azad told the meeting. Healso stressed the need for consider-ing innovations in solar power to

deepen the fuel mix basket. He sug-gested utilizing the rooftops of railwaystation, both sides of the railway tracks,bus terminals and other empty and un-used spaces for installation of solarpower plants.

Energy & Power magazine organizedthe discussion titled “50 Years of En-ergy Sector: Achievements and Set-backs”, moderated by its Editor MollahAmzad Hossain.

Engr. Khondkar Abdus Saleque, Con-sulting Editor of Energy & Power, pre-sented the keynote paper. Appreciatingthe developments achieved so far, helisted the setbacks of last five decadesand possible challenges ahead, stimu-lating the discussion. He pointed outthat major changes in the fuel mix inPower System Master Plans (PSMPs)have affected the system reliability andsustainability. The country is movingtowards exclusive reliance on imported

primary fuel, expressing the fear that itwould not be possible to absorb theprice shocks of volatile global fuel mar-ket. The supply chain might also dis-rupt from time to time. To offset thedownside risks, an affordable and ra-tional fuel mix of domestic and im-ported resources should be planned.

Amid fast depletion of domestic naturalgas reserve, he said that the diversifica-tion of the fuel mix was a right initia-

tive, but the major setback was that thegovernment failed to take a decision onmining own coal, and planned to in-crease the dependence on imports.Petrobangla has also failed to expeditepetroleum exploration. Prolonged de-lays in offshore exploration are a majorfailure. Exclusive reliance on capacity-constrained Bapex for onshore explo-ration proved to be counter-productive.Another major mistake was to letGazprom work for development wellsin Petrobangla-owned gas fields. Evena multi-client survey in the deep-waterregion of the Bay of Bengal could notbe started in last seven years.

Engr. Saleque identified primary fuelsupply as a major challenge for long-term energy security of the country. Inbusiness as usual, local gas reserve maycompletely deplete by 2031 if not re-plenished soon with new discoveries.A significant depletion may have to befaced from 2025.

Taking part in the discussion on the dis-appointing issues, Mr. Azad, who is theSpecial Envoy of the Climate Vulnera-ble Forum (CVF), pointed out thatBangladesh is supplying power at thelowest tariff. Through enhancing effi-ciency, it would be possible to supplyelectricity at more affordable cost. Asper the UN Human DevelopmentIndex, Bangladesh has advanced fewsteps ahead of Pakistan thanks to elec-

tricity supply that played a majorrole here.

He said that there was a scope formeaningfully strengthening theBangladesh Petroleum Explorationand Production Company Limited(Bapex). But its management is in-terested in staying under the gov-ernment pay scale. A proposal wasbrought for special higher pay scale.But for reluctance of Bapex, it waswithdrawn.

11January 1, 2021

Muhammed Aziz KhanMd. Abul Kalam Azad

Muhammad Aziz Khan, ChairmanSummit Group, mentioned that atthe age of free market economy,development progresses smoothlyin a democratic country.Bangladesh has both and that iswhy Bangladesh is developing at afaster pace. The private sector hasinvested over Tk 80,000 crore dur-ing the past 12 years which is ahuge achievement. Notable suc-cess in power and RMG sector hasbeen achieved and now this mustbe translated into other industries.

Land is a major roadblock for in-dustrialization of Bangladesh. The100 under implementation SpecialEconomic Zones (SEZ) would re-quire huge electricity. The COVID-19 pandemic has created someimpacts, but we have to reduce therisks of climate vulnerability. Solarand wind would not be able tomake major contributions inBangladesh. So, we will have togive priority to gas and LNG. I ama strong believer of gas to powertechnology. All transports can beconverted into auto gas whetherthe gas comes from the localsource or imported LNG. Gas fromdeep offshore would cost at least 7US dollar now. We get LNG atlower cost now. We have to carry

out feasibil-ity studiesabout ex-ploration ofgas fromdeep water.

In responseto criticismabout ca-p a c i t ycharge, hesaid the in-v e s t o r sneed returnon each in-vestment. Itdoes notm a t t e rw h e t h e rthe invest-ment isdone fromown source or borrowed from fi-nancial institutions. The capacitypayment is just like that. We haveto bear the brunt in other areas aswell.

Muqtadir Ali, former Chairman ofPetrobangla and Bangladesh Petro-leum Corporation (BPC), said thatthe development work of Bapex’sown field is being given to othercompany. How it will grow as aself-sustaining company? He also

pointed that the Bheramara—Khulnapipeline has been constructed 8years ago, but is not being utilizeduntil now. The discussion aboutconstruction of a Single PointMooring (SPM) has been takingplace since 1980 while the con-struction of the second refinery isalso being discussed from 2000.But it has not seen the light of theday yet. The prolonged delays inproject implementation must bedone away with. We are keenerabout doing works engaging for-eign companies. We must givemore opportunities to local compa-nies. We will remain deprived un-less we get out of long delays. Wemust not give priorities to foreigncompanies.

Engr. Khaled Mahmood, formerChairman of Bangladesh PowerDevelopment Board (BPDB), said itis a pleasure to know that all gas-based power plants are now usinggas turbines. The power sectorcould not achieve such successwithout own fuel. There was a timewhen, especially during Ramadanand irrigation season, gas supplyfor CNG and fertilizer factoriesused to remain suspended. Nowthat situation does not prevail any-

12January 1, 2021

Rezwanul Kabeer Khondkar Abdus Saleque Mortuza Ahmed Faruque

Muqtadir Ali Khaled Mahmood Firoz Alam

Habiganj Gas Field, one of the 5 fields that Bangabandhu had taken over from Shell Oil File Photo

more. The costs would increase forexclusive imported fuel depend-ency. Extraction of local coalwould benefit us.

Significant advancement has beenmade in power generation, butsome issues like low voltage andothers are being addressed now, heinformed the meeting.

Mortuza Ahmed Faruque, formerManaging Director of Bapex, men-tioned that Bapex has developed ex-pertise to drill development wellsand workovers. In the past, one de-velopment well required a year tocomplete it, but now this is beingdone in only 3-4 months. Lot of suc-cess has been achieved in workoversas well.

Some 11 wells have been drilled ingreater Chattogram and ChattogramHill Tracts region. There is significantpotential for gas discovery in the re-gion. But, due to high court embargo,no work could be done for last 15years. However, he said, Bapexalone cannot work in the tight struc-tures of the CHT and suggested goingfor PSC or JVA. There is significantvolume of gas at shallow structuresin Sylhet region.

Prof Dr. Firoz Alam, a chartered pro-fessional engineer, academic and re-

searcher from RMIT University inAustralia, appreciated that the percapita power consumption inBangladesh has increased 40 times to445 kWh in 2019 from a meager 11kWh in 1971. In 1971, India’s percapita power consumption was 9times higher than Bangladesh. Thisgap reduced to 2.6 times in 2019.This is a remarkable achievement, hesaid.

Nevertheless, he said, Bangladeshstill needs to go a long way as thecountry’s per capita power consump-tion is significantly lower than mostcountries with similar per capitagross national income (GNI). Empha-sizing on the need for ensuring unin-terrupted supply of quality power, heurged the stakeholders concerned tolink power supply with the incomegeneration activities in ruralBangladesh. He also underscored theneed for assessing the power demandwith a bottom-up approach insteadof top-down approach and based onregular consumer surveys, energyend user modeling, etc. as the cur-rent practice is based on historic de-mand pattern and forecasts of futureeconomic growth which could bemisleading.

Engr. Rezwanul Kabeer, ManagingDirector of Energypac Power Venture

Limited, mentioned that in manycountries joint venture between localand foreign companies is mandatoryfor the projects implemented withlocal funds. We need similar policyas local companies cannot flourishwithout enabling policy supports.Local EPC companies can made sig-nificant contributions to GDP if theyare provided with equal tax andother fiscal incentives. Local EPCcompanies need 15% tax, 10.5% AITand 5% other taxes. If these areas areaddressed, local companies canmake more contributions.

Experts said the taxes are not appli-cable for the foreign EPC contractors.For awarding works to a local con-tractor, a company like Summit re-quires accounting for at least 35%more cost. Such disparity must bedone away with. Local EPC contrac-tors could add more values throughmaking far greater contributions ifparity could be established.

They said the issues and challengesof the local EPC (Engineering, Pro-curement and Construction) contrac-tors can be resolved throughdiscussion with the government.Government is also very keen to uti-lize the local expertise and capabil-ity.

In conclusion, the experts consideredthat Bangladesh must not lean to-wards a particular primary fuel andstressed the need for a well-thoughtfuel mix for reliable and affordablepower generation and supply. Theywarned that exclusive reliance onimported primary fuel would pose ahuge risk. Local coal can be the mosteconomic primary fuel for powergeneration. Mine-mouth powerplants would be the most ideal solu-tion for avoiding coal transportationdifficulties. They recommended reor-ganizing the Petrobangla and itscompanies in a manner that thosecould take part with IOCs to exploreand develop the domestic energy re-sources which could be the most ef-fective way of powering the country’seconomic growth engine.

13January 1, 2021

EP

A view of Ghorashal power plant unit 5 File Photo

2021 is the year of golden jubileeof glorious liberation ofBangladesh. Our motherland

earning its liberation through supremesacrifices of millions has made giantstrides in many different areas includingenergy and power over the past 50years. Many consider Bangladesh as theemerging tiger of the east. The New Year2021 presents many challenges requir-ing Bangladesh better coordinating en-deavors for consolidating theachievements.

COVID19 pandemic breaking out inend 2019 continued rocking and rollingthe world throughout 2020. The intro-duction of vaccine in some countries isgiving some rays of hope but a muchstronger strain of the virus in UnitedKingdom and Western Europe has alsoadded to world worries. Hope the worldwould overcome the impacts or learnthe ways of living with it. Bangladeshcan definitely manage better the impactof the second wave of the pandemiclearning lesson from the first.

Improved Energy and Power Situationthrough better management of pan-demicBangladesh could remain significantlyless affected in 2020 from economicmeltdown resulting from pandemic im-pacts for much better energy and powersupply situation. Industries could re-sume production after few months, agri-culture growth kept apprehendedfamine at arms distance, power supplyto even remote villages, kept telemedi-cine, telemarketing, long distance edu-cation going. Despite business as usualoperations of power and energy getting

occasionally disrupted, ninety percentof the population could be broughtunder power coverage. There is everypossibility that entire population may bebrought under population by March2021. There is no denying that, for var-ious reasons, energy sector could notkeep pace with power sector. But the is-sues and challenges of energy andpower sector have been identified andway forward are being planned for con-fronting challenges. Bangladesh econ-omy could demonstrate positive in asituation when major economies of theworld showed negative growth. Bring-ing 99% percent population of a re-source constraint under power supplycoverage notwithstanding the chal-lenges triggered by pandemic is nomean feat.

Analysis of Power Generation CapacityPresent Installed Capacity as of Decem-ber 6, 2020 is 22,717MW. This includes1,060 MW Import from India,2,800MW Captive Generation and382MW Off Grid Solar. The captivegeneration is expected to be replacedby grid power soon. Most of the over7,000MW liquid fuel based power gen-eration capacity was due to be replacedby this time. It may be possible to re-place most of the liquid fuel generationby 2025 when coal plants at Payra,Rampal, Matarbari and Rooppur Nu-clear plants come into operation. Butwhat happens if some major industriesin some of the Special Economic Zonesstart operation say by 2030? What willbe the demand growth? Looking at itfrom another angle, if demand does notgrow then how Bangladesh would deal

with that situation? In 2021 Bangladeshfaces the challenges of phasing out rel-atively fuel inefficient power plants andalso bidding goodbye to liquid fuel gen-eration. But those captive power plantshaving co-cogeneration and tri genera-tion facilities may be allowed gettinggas supply. However, till grid powerdemonstrates reliability, major new in-dustries may still push for captive gen-eration.

Ensuring Quality Power at AffordablePriceThe nation’s pledge for bringing the en-tire population under power supply cov-erage is almost achieved. The positiveimpacts of electrification, especially,rural electrification are being observedalready. The major challenge now is en-suring quality power supply to all at af-fordable price. For this to happen,challenges are working out appropriatefuel mix, modernizing and updatingpower transmission and distribution sys-tem, ensuring much improved energyefficiency and conservation, automationof power and energy system and finally,planning and executing comprehensivehuman capital development movement.All these cannot be achieved within ayear or two. But 2021 may be year forturning around proving that successbreeds success.

Adopting Appropriate Fuel MixAll eggs must not be put in one basket.Bangladesh must have learnt bitter les-sons from mono fuel dependency. Nei-ther coal, nor LNG on stand-alone basiscan support Bangladesh’s needs for sus-tainable power generation. It is strangeto think that Bangladesh would grow

2021 Challengesof Energy Sector

Saleque Sufi

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January 1, 2021

green in the foreseeable future. We haveto keep all windows open.

Formulating appropriate mix of localand imported fuel would be major chal-lenge in 2001 . Despite energy worldtransiting from fossil fuels to renewablefor carbon neutral energy generation,reality would continue relying on coalfor base load power generation. Thereasons are abundance in supply acrossall continents, continued improvementof emissions control technologies andrelative stable price. Bangladesh, for itsnegligible carbon footprint, must notworry too much. But superior qualitycoal and High Efficiency Low Emissions(HELE) power generation technologiesmust be used.

Coal (Local and Imported), Gas (ownand LNG), Nuclear, Renewable, Im-ported Power, LPG all options must bethere in fuel mix as priorities set above.

Local Coal Unlike many countries, Bangladeshpossesses significant superior qualitycoal resource at mineable depth. It alsobelieved to have substantial volume ofuntapped petroleum resources at on-shore frontier areas and vast almost un-explored offshore region. We all knowthat for absence of political commit-ment Bangladesh could not take essen-tial political decision for mining owncoal. Technical experts, economists andbusiness communities for a while havebeen pleading with government to com-mence exploiting own coal resources.Only a section of left leaning politicalactivists and less informed environmen-talists indulging in uneducated debatescreated confusion. Mining would re-quire managing environmental and so-cial impacts. It would also require minewater management. But from extensivestudies and assessment carried out byinternationally accredited experts it hasbeen documented that open pit miningis the right choice from at least Phulbariand Barapukuria coal fields (believed bymany a single deposit). Extensive docu-ments produced by leading mining con-sulting companies are available in theScheme of Development of Phulbarimine. Experts suggested for reviewingthe documents if necessary by third

party and give green signal for mining.

On the other hand Bangladesh hasburnt its nose following inappropriateunderground mining method at Bara-pukria. The mine is possibly one of therare mine in the world witnessing all theadverse impacts that can happen in anunderground mine. The cost of mininghas now grown so high that importedcoal is now much cheaper that the coalextracted from it. A local high-poweredcommittee suggested for open pit min-ing. Those suggestions should be dulyconsidered. This mine cannot supportpower generation from three minemouth plants. It is apprehended that ifopen pit mining is not sanctioned soonfrom Barapukria and Phulbari operationof mine mouth Barapukuria power plantwould require suspending for indefiniteperiod. Taking political decision formining would be major challenge of thegovernment in 2021.

Government should reassess the reportsof Dighipara and Khalaspir engagingfresh accredited mining consultantsthrough transparent process.

Imported CoalMajor problem for imported coal is shal-low coastal areas creating impedimentsfor coal port and other enabling infra-structure development issues. However,under construction Matarbari port andif in future Payra can set up a propercoal port, then the plants at Matabari,

Moheshkhali and other plants in coastalareas can get supply of imported coal.But given the limited windows of fi-nancing in coal projects apart from pres-ent under implementation projects, onlynew coal power projects should be lo-cated in mine mouths. The transship-ment of coal from mother vesselsanchored in deep sea or carrying coalin half filled Supramax vessels wouldcreate issues for generation costs goinghigher.

Local GasGovernment must seriously review ca-pability of Bapex. It must be trulystrengthened technically, financiallyand administratively. ONGC came intogas sector must later than Petrobangla.Petronas is almost cotemporary. PetroVietnam can also be an example. Mak-ing Bapex truly professional is another2021 challenge for the energy sector.Bapex board needs restructuring withline professionals, academic researchersand local business executives. Salaryand benefits must be made commensu-rate with onerous tasks of resource cre-ations. At the same time duties andresponsibilities must be reflective. Pro-visions for Bapex for entering into jointventure with competent foreign compa-nies must be created for capacity en-hancement. Bapex with joint venturemust concentrate on exploration in ownassigned blocks and Chottogram HillTracts areas.

16January 1, 2021

A view of a power transmission line

On the other hand, IOCs must be en-gaged in onshore through PSCs fordeeper prospects exploration of discov-ered gas fields and western region.

We do not believe that present lowertrend of gas price in international mar-ket would last beyond 2021. Hencethere is no reason why Petrobangla can-not go ahead with offshore bidding byJune 2021 and conclude signing PSCsby end 2021. At the same time Contrac-tors must initiate Multi Client surveyswithout any delay now. Let 2021 set thefoundation for massive petroleum huntat onshore and offshore areas.

LNG as Preferred Interim FuelFew observers feel that LNG would bepreferred interim fuel in the transition ofworld energy paradigm shift from fossilfuel to renewable. Let us accept that Re-newable in Bangladesh would nevercontribute more than 10-15% of the en-ergy basket. LNG and coal import havesimilar challenges for Bangladesh inconsideration of shallow drafts ofcoastal area. As far as present lowerprice of LNG is concerned, this wouldnot be long lasting. Global price of oilhas already started climbing with the in-troduction of Corona vaccine. By end2021 there is possibility that oil pricemay shoot back to Pre-Pandemic level.On price consideration, LNG cannot becompetitive to coal as far as base loadpower generation is concerned.Bangladesh still needs to import LNG. Itmust continue its works for setting upLand Based LNG terminal at Matarbari.Bangladesh needs adjusting its PPR pro-visions for taking advantage of lowestspot price of LNG. The price is offeredfor a week to 10 days validity. But forPetrobangla and RPGCL the approvalprocess takes at least a month. In suchsituation taking advantage from spotprice is not possible. Bangladesh couldrenegotiate long term LNG price withsuppliers in the changed global sce-nario. Bangladesh also cannot take ad-vantage of Future Purchase for PPRconditions.

Together with the program of LandBased LNG Terminal Bangladesh shouldconsider LNG storage facilities. The ad-vantage of fluctuating LNG price in

global market, especially of low pricecould be taken if Bangladesh could im-port and store LNG for future use.

Yes LNG can be an option for additionalpower generation. But the challengesmust be duly considered. Bangladeshmust not open Pandora box like RMG,Rental Power and Coal Power plants,LPG bottling plants without consideringall pros and cons of the business.

Capacity Enhancement of Power Grid One of the major setbacks of PowerSector is PGCB failing to keep pace withpower generation successes.Bangladesh should have developed atleast 400 kVA backbone of power trans-mission line by now for evacuatingpower from different power hub. Theimplementation of all mega power proj-ects envisioned under mid-term plan-ning have been delayed. But still PGCBis not ready for evacuating power. In asmall country like Bangladesh, distrib-uted power transmission system is notright solution. However mini grid andmicro grid should grow in limited scale.2021 should be year for expediting allprojects of PGCB. All its grid sub sta-tions must be smartly operated as well.All KPIs must have self-contained firefighting and other safety arrangements.SCADA must the well truly operational.

Power Distribution Utilities Must GrowSmartWe understand that distribution utilities

are growing smarter introducing GIS,SCADA, Smart metering, burying powerlines underground. Hope all utilities incity areas take coordinated action plansfor burying utility lines and monitoringoperations based on fiber optics basedsmart sensing. Expediting these projectsare also a 2021 challenge for powerutilities.

BERC Must be Truly FunctionalMaking BERC truly functional is anotherchallenge for 2021. It still cannot policeenergy auditing. One of the mandates ofBERC is caring for efficiency of its li-censees. It has to enforce law, regula-tion, act and policy. Mere reviewingpricing and determining tariff throughsome public consultation cannot remainthe sole responsibility of BERC in thematuring Energy& Power market.

2021 would be a year of consolidatingthe achievements of power and turningaround of energy sector. Bangladesh hasto keep pace with shifting paradigm ofWorld Energy. Developing State OwnedEnterprises to higher skill levels for ex-ploring and exploiting own fuel re-sources, devising and implementingappropriate fuel mix for affordablepower generation and supply are majorchallenges of 2021.

Saleque Sufi;Contributing Editor

17January 1, 2021

­ Construction work of Rooppur NPP project is progressing

EP

Formulation and adoption of a com-prehensive formula for fixing theprice of Liquefied Petroleum Gas

(LPG) has become essential now. Pur-chase price, premium and fluctuation offoreign exchange rate should be consid-ered while setting the price. It shouldalso be taken care of that the price doesnot fluctuate frequently, creating nega-tive impact on the consumers.

Speakers at a virtual discussion titled“LPG Pricing Dilemma” on December26, 2020 stressed on the need for thepricing mechanism amid frequent fluc-tuation of LPG price in the domesticmarket.

Energy & Power magazine organizedthe meeting as part of a series titled “EPTalks”. Moderated by EP Editor MollahAmzad Hossain, Head of Division(Sales) of Basundhara LP Gas Engr.Jakaria Jalal presented the keynotepaper of the discussion where Dr. Taw-fiq—e-Elahi Chowdhury, Energy Advisorto the Prime Minister, was present as thechief guest.

The speakers observed that records evi-dence price fluctuation by 200 US Dol-lars within a month in the global market.In such situation, setting the LPG priceat consumers’ level is really challenging.If Bangladesh had an agreed formula forsetting the price, it could be adjustedfrom time to time based on fluctuationof price in the global market.Bangladesh’s next door neighbor Indiafollows such formula.

Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr.Tawfiq—e—Elahi Chowdhury said that theend users’ price of LPG could only bereduced in a supply chain if the basecost of LPG can be lowered. The realis-

tic possibility in this case if Bangladeshcan develop a deep sea port for import-ing LPG in large vessels. Bangladesh isgoing ahead with the construction ofMatarbari port. Entrepreneurs can planon that basis. Railway networks are ad-vancing. We must think about better uti-lization of riverine transportation.

Expressing different opinion with Dr.Ijaz Hossain, the advisor said it is beingsaid that the LPG demand forecast for2015 is sky high. The government envi-sions that all citizens would move outof biomass use at some stage. There canbe fuel mix for domestic cooking. Solarpower and grid electricity will be there.We have to make that happen what ap-

pears impossible in business as usualapproach. All rural women would usecommercial fuel. Price needs to be ad-justed. It must not fluctuate too often.My origin is in a rural area. I do not un-derstand much complexities. Too fre-quent fluctuations may create priceshock. Bangladesh Energy RegulatoryCommission (BERC) may ponder aboutcross subsidy. Electricity had cross sub-sidy earlier. Something like life line canbe considered.

He acknowledged the necessity forstrengthening the Directorate of Explo-sive. He also stressed on LPG valuechain obliging to safety regulations. LPGcompanies must devise ways on how towork better with all. Our villages wouldturn your towns. All urban facilities

would be extended to rural areas. Wemust discuss how in a better-coordi-nated manners LPG and articulated fa-cilities can be provided to new regionslike Purbachol.

Azam J Chowdhury, President of LPGOperators’ Association of Bangladesh(LOAB) said LPG bottles are being trans-ported to satellite stations using riverinetransportations. LPG market startedgrowing big since 2016. In 4 years, an-nual demand has grown to 10 Lakhtonnes from 80,000 tonnes. In globalstandard, it is a new milestone. It willtake some time for getting market stabil-ity. The government must set a regula-tion about the storage capacity. Cross

filling now being done is a very risky ac-tivity. We the investors failed to fathomBangladesh scale. There will be minigrid system eventually. Safety surveil-lance must be strengthened.

He said that many of us buy LNG fromglobal market on yearly basis, few fromfloating market. We have to go for auto-matic pricing formula. We cannot im-port LPG during monsoon. There mustbe a deep sea port for LPG terminal. ThePower Cell has been given responsibil-ity for it. Petrobbangla should get this re-sponsibility. Imports will be streamlinedwhen the deep sea port will be devel-oped. Price will get down then.

Ghulam Rahman, President of Con-sumers Association of Bangladesh

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(CAB), said that given the present sce-nario of gas value chain, there is no op-tion but to expand LPG market. But itmust be ensured that the consumers canget fuel as affordable price. At the sametime, the suppliers should also get fairrate of return on investment. Absence oftransparency creates opportunities formanipulation. Hence price must be setthrough public hearing. The govern-ment should review whether it wouldbe wise to give licenses to too many op-erators in consideration of the marketsize of Bangladesh. Energy price is reg-ulated by law. BERC is mandated to de-termine the price. It has started theprocess.

Professor Dr. Ijaz Hossain, Dean of theFaculty of Engineering, BUET observedthat the sky-high forecast of LPG de-mand is a fundamental flaw. Japanesedid it, they also did the same for elec-tricity. They estimated the demand as3.0 million tonnes in 2025. It may nothappen even in 2030. Competition hasbrought down the price. At the start, theprice was high for monopoly business.Price must be adjusted on monthlybasis. The maximum span of price canbe for three months. Pricing formula isvery simple. But application is difficult.I find no justification for fixing the price.

Sheikh Naweed Rashid, Head of Strate-gic Portfolio Management of G-Gas (En-ergypac LPG) mentioned that the cost ofcylinder manufacturing is Tk1600-1800. But these are being sold at Tk500.It is being told that the cost of refill ishigher. The price of this imported com-modity fluctuates at a wide range. It isvery difficult to track as it ranges overUS$200 in a month often. The size ofinvestment differs for different LPG com-panies. Distribution cost is also a majorfactor. Sometimes the trucks take two tothree days for reaching from Mongla toDhaka. The cost of inland transportationgets higher.

Engr. Jakaria Jalal, Head of Division atBashundhara LP Gas Ltd, in his keynotepresentation pointed out that the LPGdemand grew at a phenomenal pacefrom 2015. The present annual demand

is 1.2 million tonnes. JICA forecasts thedemand to rise to 3.0 million tonnes in2025 and 6.0 million tonnes in 2041.The market is fluctuating over a widerange. Unpredictable market, premiumcost, US dollar exchange rate fluctua-tions have made keeping LPG price sta-ble extremely challenging. Some 56companies have so far been awarded li-censes. Of them, 28 are in operationand 20 more companies have initiatedimport process. There exist 200 tankers,5,000 trucks, 21 vessels and 20 satelliteplants. Considering the size of the mar-ket, the investment appears too high. In-vestment has become risky for unfaircompetitions. The end users’ price isshowing lowering trends over the past 8years. Now a 12KG cylinder can be soldat Tk 850-950. Around 50% domesticconsumers of the country now use LPG.There is now safety regulation in place.Tax-VAT provisions needed restructur-ing. Subsidy exists in other countries,but in Bangladesh we have to pay VATand taxes. Sometimes, unfair compari-son is made with India and Sri Lanka.We cannot compare our case with Indiaas it needs importing only 50% LPG ofits demand.

Now LPG is sold at Rs. 58 per kg inIndia and in Bangladesh it is equivalentto Rs. 60 and in Nepal Rs. 82. Differentcompanies are importing LPG from dif-ferent sources following different strate-gies. How can the price be fixed in suchcircumstances, he questioned?

Drawing a conclusion, EP Editor MollahAmzad Hossain observed that the retailprice is Tk 850, but for market manipu-lations at the dealers’ level the pricegoes higher at consumers’ level. TheBERC has issued notice for public hear-ing for holding discussion on determin-ing the LPG price. BPC has proposed tosale LPG at Tk 700, LOAB adding 9%profit proposed a price of TK 1,259 andPromita Energy proposed at Tk 1,042.The LPG policy sets 5,000 tonnes stor-age capacity as a requirement for li-cense.

Sahabuddin, LPG dealer in Dhanmondiand Lalbagh areas, mentioned that theLPG operators care little about the dis-tributors. Announcements must bemade every time when the price is ad-justed.

20January 1, 2021

Azam J Chowdhury Jakaria JalalDr. Tawfiq­e­Elahi Chowdhury

Dr. Ijaz Hossain Sheikh Naweed RashidGhulam Rahman

EP

The burgeoning economic devel-opment of Bangladesh, GDPgrowing at consistent impressive

rate of above 6% over the past decadecreated challenges for smooth supply ofprimary fuel. Till end of the past centuryown natural gas almost exclusivelydominated fuel supply for power, indus-try, fertilizer and even to domestic andcommercial consumers. Hesitation intaking political decision for mining onlyother major fuel alternative coal andcontinued failure in expediting explo-ration and development of petroleum inonshore and offshore prospects pushedBangladesh to imported fuel - Coal,LNG, LPG and other petroleum prod-ucts.

The LPG utilization which started fromutilizing crude derivative from EasternRefinery Limited (ERL) and a small plantat Koillashtilla Gas field got momentumsince the introduction of private sectorin LPG import, bottling and distribution.The LPG market started growing fastersince 2016 following official suspensionof pipeline gas supply to domestic con-sumers. From 2016 to 2020 the domes-tic market witnessed phenomenalgrowth from annual demand of 80,000tonnes to 1 million tonnes. A recent JICAstudy forecasted the domestic marketgrowing to 3 million tonnes by 2025 and6 million tonnes by 2041. At present 56companies have license for operation inBangladesh. 28 of these companies arealready in business. 20 more companieshave initiated actions for import of LPG.An estimated US$3 billion has been al-ready invested. 20 tankers, 500 trucks,21 LPG vessels and 20 satellite plantshave given domestic market capacity for

meeting existing and emerging de-mands. Jakaria Jalal inform those data inrecent webinar titled “LPG PricingDilemma” on December 26.

In the wake of major depletion of do-mestic natural gas reserve, governmenthas announced final decision for nonew pipe line gas supply for domesticuse. LPG will definitely be the fuel ofchoice for cooking. LPG as auto gas isgrowing as popular fuel for automo-biles. But at present super saturated LPGmarket in the context of market de-mand, absence of regulatory control,absence policy for safety and absenceof regulator policy safety have createdchallenges for smooth operation of LPGbusiness. Moreover, some unethicalbusiness practices have created con-cerns as well.

Appropriate pricing, price structure areother aspects of LPG business. In a re-cent digital seminar organized by En-ergy & Power LPG Pricing Dilemmawere discussed, deliberated and de-bated. Energy Advisor to Prime Ministerand Energy Minister of Bangladesh, In-dustry Leaders, Academic Researchers,CAB leader participating in the discus-sion had meeting of mind on pricingissue. This write will attempt in objec-tive analysis of the situation.

Challenges of LPG Business The keynote paper presenter highlightedthe following challenges.Supply of LPG, Improper Guidelines ofOperation., Absence of Modern SafetyRules and Lack of Compliance, Im-proper VAT and Tax Structure, Inade-quate Drafts at Existing Ports, Lack ofCountrywide Good Road Infrastructure

and Unethical Business Practices. Wecan discuss all these in a little depth.

•Supply of LPG: We are aware thatonly a small fraction (1.5% of NationalDemand) is supplied from lone crude oilrefinery. LPG liquid is imported from dif-ferent companies from internationalmarket following different strategies.Due to limited draft at Chottogram andMongla ports, LPG is either importedusing smaller vessels or through trans-shipment from mother vessels anchoredat deep water. These adding to trans-portation make the overall cost forreaching LPG to consumers level higher.Till a deep sea port at Matarbari andPayra comes into operation and a com-bined deep-water terminal for LiquidFuel is operational, this challenge can-not be overcome. Other options can beexpediting construction of a SecondLarge Refinery creating facility for addi-tional LPG supply. This may take 5-7years. Bangladesh may discuss withIndia for importing LPG from Indian Re-fineries in adjacent states of India. Atleast four such refineries adjacent toBangladesh border cannot use full ca-pacity for their distance from nearestport. Transporting crude and disposingof refined products are issues.Bangladesh in future can let India useMatarbari port facility for importingcrude for these refineries and also dis-posing off refined products on conditionof preferential access for Bangladesh inrefined products. Raliway transportationof Crude from Matarbari to Refineriesand Refined Prodcucts from Refinery toBangladesh and port can follow win-win contracts negotiated.

Saleque Sufi

Rationales of LPG Pricing in BangladeshRationales of LPG Pricing in BangladeshRationales of LPG Pricing in Bangladesh

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•Improper Guidelines for Operation: Agenuine question arises as to the num-ber of organizations regulating LPGbusiness. In free market business opera-tion open to public and private opera-tors independent regulators with wellarticulated regulatory guidelines setlevel play ground for fair play. BPC asgovernment agency in business also op-erate LPG business partially. It is a defi-nite conflict of interest. BERC Act doesnot clearly provide its mandate for reg-ulating LPG business. Neither ExplosiveDirectorate nor BERC has developedpolicies or Guidelines for LPG businessoperation. If BPC stays in LPG business,it must compete with private operatorsas business enterprise. Its regulatoryfunctions must be taken out, BERCshould be strengthened as sole regula-tor. BERC must formulate guidelines andensure compliance. Explosive Direc-torate must also be strengthened forpolicing safety. Intensive safety auditingand policing of safety at all stages LPGimport, storage, bottling, transpiration,refilling and disposal will assist smoothgrowth and development of business.Unfair business practices will be doneaway with. Only companies in fair busi-ness would survive.

•Improper Tax and VAT Structure: Wemust realize that the entire populationof Bangladesh has constitutional rightfor access to energy at affordable price.Now consumers in gas franchise onlygetting the blessings of cheaper pipeline

gas. Rest of the country even many inSouthern and Western Region ofBangladesh are deprived from own gasuse. They either have to use expensiveLPG or other form of Bio Mass. This isdiscrimination. In this situation govern-ment must find ways how to make LPGprice competitive to Pipeline gas. Truethat reliance on Imported LPG and lackof port facilities cannot keep price lowerand competitive. The only way left is re-forming tax and VAT structure makingprice, reducing the gap betweenpipeline gas and LPG. If necessary, crosssubsidy can come under consideration.Till all these can be worked out, anunique pricing formula for pricing canbe formulated taking into considerationall components of pricing.

•Inland Transpiration: This writer dur-ing recent visits in different areas ofBangladesh has observed with greatconcern that LPG bottles are transportedand stored at remote areas of the coun-try in very unsafe manners. We areaware that some companies have mod-ern transportation facilities from bottlingplants to satellite stations but all doesnot have. Roads are not in good condi-tions in many areas. Petroleum Pumpsmust restrict as far as the retail businesspracticable. The distributors must betrained and made to sign safety agree-ments for smooth transportation andstorage of LPG.

•Unethical Business Practice: BERCalone or BERC and Explosive Direc-

torate jointly must carry out efficiencyand safety auditing regularly for policingunethical business practice. There arecredible allegations of using substan-dard meters and hose. These createsafety hazards and cause accidents.

Pipe Line Gas and LPG for CookingBeing a life long gas professional deeplyinvolved in gas supply to different con-sumers for almost three decades, I nowfeel the strong logic of phasing outpipeline supply of gas to domestic con-sumers. 18% of total gas is now sup-plied to domestic consumers. There arethousands of illegal consumers. Govern-ment has taken right decision for notproviding any new gas for domestic use.At the same time setting a target of 2-3years government must phase outpipeline gas supply for domestic andcommercial use. At the same time, gassupply to CNG must also be graduallyreplaced with Auto Gas. We are surethat the proponents of CNG by now re-alized that CNG use has not deliveredthe cherished vision.

Bangladesh needs adopting the rightfuel mix for energy generation as it willincreasingly become imported fuel de-pended. Fuel choice must be rationaland pricing must be logical. For cookingLPG must be the preferred fuel. Beforeletting so many operators in LPG busi-ness the regulatory capabilities musthave been strengthened, own expertsmust have assessed market develop-ment and safety procedures must havebeen developed with provisions for au-diting and policing. In free market econ-omy with so many operators alreadymaking significant investments fixingprice would not be proper at this stage.However, a flexible pricing formula canbe adopted. Bangladesh situation mustnot be compared with India. Its refiner-ies can feed more than 50% of its LPGdemand. Its ports have draft for import-ing LPG by proper vessels. Petroleumand Natural Gas Regulatory Board andstate regulators can police safety. Com-parison in such situation is not apple-to-apple.

Saleque Sufi;Contributing Editor

23January 1, 2021

EP

All the substations in Dhakacity would get power supplyfrom dual sources within a

year which is expected to help mit-igate disruptions to a great extent.And, at the same time, the utilitiesare upgrading and modernizing thedistribution system while taking aninitiative to lay cables undergroundin an attempt to ensure uninter-rupted supply of quality electricityto the consumers, including indus-tries.

The chief executives of two utilities— Dhaka Electric Supply CompanyLimited (DESCO) and Dhaka PowerDistribution Company Limited(DPDC) — have discussed about thedevelopment initiatives now beingimplemented after getting close toachieve the target of providing ac-cess to electricity for all.

While moving ahead with the de-velopment programs, they alsosought cooperation from the con-sumers, who often throw rubbishlike clothes and other things on thedistribution lines from the high-risebuildings, to improve the quality ofsupply.

Managing Director of DPDC Engr.Bikash Dewan and Managing Di-rector of DESCO Engr. Md. KausarAmeer Ali were speaking at a vir-tual conference on “ChallengesAfter Achieving 100% ElectricityCoverage” on 13 December 2020.

Energy & Power magazine organ-ized the discussion as part of a se-ries titled “EP Talks” on theemerging energy sector issues. EPEditor Mollah Amzad Hossain mod-

erated the conference.Engr. Md. Kausar Ameer Ali in-formed the conference that the tar-get of 100 percent power coveragehas been achieved. Now work isgoing on improving the quality ofpower supply and the first target isto enhance the system capacity.Presently, most of the distributionlines are overhead. Already utilitycompany has started laying theseunderground which is a huge chal-lenge in case of Dhaka city as noteven 6-8% space is left besides theroads. All other utility services arenow going underground too. Hencegetting requisite space remains agreat challenge. The target is tocomplete the pilot schemes in Gul-shan, Banani, Baridhara and Pur-bachal by 2023.

Simultaneously, efforts are on tomake customer services simpler sothat the consumers get all servicesdigitally from home. Around 50%

of the consumers have now prepaidmeters and 100%, including bulkconsumers and industries, will getit by 2023 when there should notbe any complaint about bills.DESCO will completely do awaywith the manual meter reading.

The DESCO MD acknowledged thatthe single point metering system forthe markets and commercial build-

ings has created some difficulties.We are discussing amongst our-selves that individual prepaid me-ters will be given to all. We havealready done that in some places,but there would be a main meter. Itis extremely difficult to supplypower safely to the markets. Thereexist no reliable wiring diagrams inmost cases. It is very difficult toidentify these. DESCO’s responsi-bility ends at customer’s meter inletand internal wiring is the responsi-bility of individual customers. Hesaid that in case of customers’ pur-chasing the meters, there is noscope for realizing the meter rent.If these have been done throughmistakes, we would apologize andreturn that money.

Regarding issues about exemptionsof VAT for 100% export-oriented in-dustries, he said the National Boardof Revenue (NBR) would deal withthis. They will have to issue a SRO

in this regard. We are providing thisfacility to some companies already.We are working on ensuring unin-terrupted supply of quality power toTongi industrial area. We hope tocomplete the work by June 2021.There would be facilities for dual-source supply. We have applied toGazipur City Corporation fourmonths back, seeking road cuttingpermission for laying distribution

Utilities Now Focus on ImprovingPower Distribution System

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lines underground. We have not re-ceived the permission yet. We areready for completing works expedi-tiously upon receipt of the permis-sion.

We understand that the sudden in-crease of power tariff has createddifficulties for the bulk users. How-ever, we have requested theBangladesh Energy RegulatoryCommission (BERC) to determinemulti-year power tariff. There willbe a forecast about future tariff sothat the investors could take theirfuture plans.

DPDC MD Engr. Bikash Dewan saidthat the unplanned growth of indus-tries is a major challenge for pro-viding uninterrupted supply of gridpower. He said the DPDC is execut-ing some short and mid-term proj-ects for ensuring uninterruptedsupply of quality power to the in-dustrial customers. The work on re-moving hazardous poles and linesare in progress.

Another major problem is that con-sumers take connections for a givenload but they keep on adding moreappliances, increasing the load andconsequently the transformers getoverloaded and go offline. To facil-itate quality power supply, the con-sumers too need to be conscious.The distribution companies alonecannot do it. The regulatory organ-izations need to be more active inaddition to utility companies. Wehave shortage of experiencedhuman resources also. Very oftenthe power sector utilities areblamed for fire incidents due toshort circuit, but electricity systemdevelopment in Bangladesh is aneglected area. Billions of taka isbeing spent on big apartments andmarkets, but quality power connec-tions are neglected.

Helal Uddin, former Vice Presidentof FBCCI and President of ShopOwners Association of Bangladesh,

acknowledged that the activitieshave expanded to a great extentthanks to the commendable successin power generation. But, at thesame time, all must realize that weare not yet in a comfortable situa-tion. We are not sure how muchmoney the utilities are taking fromus as power bill. From a singlepoint metering system, we are un-aware about how much an ownergets from an apartment building.The bill needs to be collected fromeach apartment and shop. The Stateis not for business, but for provid-ing services. A sense of silent dis-pleasure prevails in the mind ofconsumers. In some markets, theunit rate of power is Tk 16 and inother places, it is either Tk 12 or Tk14. He raised questionas about theanomalies.

Customers have to fill up a form.They also need to set up solar panelfor a part of their required power.This is often not at all useful. Al-

most every day, about 15-20 short-circuit related fire incidents are re-ported. There is none to checkquality of electrical appliancesavailable in the market.

Shahedul Islam Helal, former Pres-ident of Bangladesh Chamber of In-dustries (BCI), mentioned that in2020 we received uninterruptedpower for 160 days. We will wel-come if loadshedding is done giv-ing prior notice until uninterruptedpower supply is ensured. That canlet us prepare for it. Sudden disrup-tions create production losses toplastic industries and other processoriented industries that require24/7 power supply. Every interrup-tion creates Tk 10,000 loss. Pleasealso give us advance notice ofpower tariff hike to enable us tomake business plan. We can makecontracts with buyers consideringthe new tariff in mind. Do not in-crease power tariff and give it ret-rospective effective. Few timeswhile increasing the tariff, we weretold about tariff adjustments in due

26January 1, 2021

Helal Uddin Bikash DewanShahedul Islam Helal

Khondkar Abdus Saleque Ariful Hoque ShuhanMd. Kausar Ameer Ali

course. Oil price remains low for awhile, but power tariff has neverbeen lowered. We cannot keepconfidence on Bangladesh EnergyRegulatory Commission (BERC)though they are mandated for pro-tecting consumers’ interest, whichthey are not doing at all. The conference was told that theBERC is formulating a uniformbilling system for all the power dis-tribution utilities. A format is almostready and it will be introducedsoon after approval.

Engr. Khondkar Saleque Sufi, Con-sulting Editor of Energy & Power,expected that the actions initiatedby the power distribution utilitieswould help ensure uninterruptedpower supply, but stressed on mod-ernization of the power value chain— GIS, SCADA, Automation, SmartGrids — that have unique challengesand would require extensive humanresources development apart fromsignificant investments. He saidthat Bangladesh does not have dig-ital mapping of already existing un-derground utility services. Till thisis done, taking one or few utilitiesunderground on stand-alone basismay not serve the purpose. He sug-gested integrated undergroundmapping of power, water, telecom-

munication, gas and internet serv-ices.

Prof Firoz Alam of RMIT Universityat Melbourne in Australia, said thatproviding a connection to powerfrom a grid or off-grid source wouldnot automatically bring develop-ment or benefit the people. As mostareas are now under grid connec-tion, he said: “We must ensure: (a)power quality, (b) power quantity(as per demand), (c) correct powerpricing, and (d) linking power ac-cess with income generation activ-ities.”

Prof Alam emphasised on achiev-ing a good balance between ac-cess to power and sustainabledevelopment. In this regard, theBangladesh Power DevelopmentBoard (BPDB), Bangladesh RuralElectrif ication Board (BREB),Power Grid Company ofBangladesh (PGCB) and otherpower stakeholders should care-fully undertake bottom-up studyfor power demand forecasting,connect power access with localdevelopment efforts, and practicegood governance in power accessand management. Scientific se-lection of power generation tech-nology/devices and technical

assistance must be provided forensuring correct systemdesign/selection, site selection,installation and quality of renew-able power generation systems.Most importantly, ongoing per-formance monitoring and mainte-nance regimes must be ensured.Otherwise, regardless of highquality and expensive system, therenewable power generationtechnology/device will be ren-dered into junk within a veryshort period of time.

Ariful Hoque Shuhan, Vice Chair-man, Reverie Power and Automa-tion Engineering Ltd, said that dueto absence of well-equipped labo-ratories, the power system equip-ment including transformers are notbeing properly tested. The 250kVAtransformers cannot take even200kVA. The DPDC and DESCOare taking ambitious projects, butultimately the consumers have tobear the brunt of financial implica-tions.

In conclusion, the conference wastold that there are still some issuesremained to be solved to ensure un-interrupted supply of quality powerto all categories of consumers. Thedistribution companies have takenup various projects for improvingthe services and expressed the hopethat the supply situation would im-prove to the expected level uponcompletion of the under-implemen-tation projects in 2-3 years. But theconsumers must use certified expe-rienced electricians for domesticcommercial and industrial facilitiesand use quality appliances to getrid of the nuisance like short-circuitrelated incidents. Without coordi-nated and collective endeavors ofthe consumers and serviceproviders, uninterrupted supply ofquality power would not beachieved.

27January 1, 2021

EP

A view of a power transformer

Over 100 hundred years ago inOctober 1917 after the Bolshe-vik socialist revolution in Rus-

sia, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Leninsigned two decrees: first was “Power tothe Proletariat (workers)” and secondwas “Electrification to Russia”. Manypeople wondered about Lenin’s actionon second decree “Electrification toRussia” instead of the “Nationalisationof Industries”. The reason was very clearto him that without the electricity orpower, Russia could not be industri-alised, and the mass employment wouldnot be possible to create. After 92 yearssince Bolshevik revolution, our farsighted and visionary leader SheikhHasina assuming power as Prime Min-ister in 2009 comprehendeded thatwithout power sector development,Bangladesh would not be able to elimi-nate poverty, promote industrialisation,create mass employment, economicand social development. Furthermore,power generation exclusively by naturalgas makes Bangladesh extremely vul-nerable in terms of energy security anddepriving gas supply to vital industrialsectors including fertilizer industries.Under her wise leadership, the nation’sfirst comprehensive Power Sector Mas-ter Plan 2010 (modified further in 2016)with a power generation roadmap till2041 was developed. As per the Masterplan, the country needs to utilise lowcost energy such as indigenous, as wellas, imported coal to generate at least35% of the total power. This is in linewith developed and emerging countries’power generation energy portfolios. Theonly concern was the environmentalpollution of coal fired power plant. To

minimise the impact, Bangladeshadopted policy to use state-of-the-arthigh efficiency super critical (38-40%)or ultra super critical (more than 42%)thermal power plants bypassing tradi-tional low thermal efficiency sub critical(30-35%) technology to minimise theenvironmental pollution. As part of theMaster Plan, Bangladesh initiated sev-eral large capacity coal fired powerplants in three strategic locations (Payra,Materbari and Rampal). Among all largepower plants, Payra Power Plant hasprogressed well and started commercialproduction this year. It is a 50:50 jointventure company of state-owned “NorthWest Power Generation Company Ltd(NWPGCL)” and China MachineryCompany (CMC). Currently it isBangladesh’s largest power plant with1,320 MW (2 units x 660 MW each) in-stalled capacity. The power plant isbased on 100% imported coal. Offi-cially, it is known as “Bangladesh ChinaPower Company Private Ltd”, created,and registered in October 2014, signedequipment procurement contract (EPC)in March 2016, and completed con-struction of both units in late December2019. The Units 1 and 2 were synchro-nised with the grid in January and Au-gust 2020, respectively. The wholeprocess (company formation, registra-tion, site selection, environmental im-pact assessment, finance arrangement,land acquisition, site development, ac-cess development, rehabilitation and re-settlement of affected people, powerplant construction, coal storage (domes)facilities, coal handling jetty and con-veyer system construction, etc) wascompleted within five and half years.

This is a record for anydeveloping/emerging country and a suc-cess story for any large projects inBangladesh.

Due to my research interest in energyand power, I have been closely follow-ing the development of Payra PowerPlant since 2014. Although I am a fre-quent visitor to the subcontinent, I wasnot able to visit Payra until December2019. Along with two of my colleagueswho are international experts in thermalpower plant, we visited Payra. Our ob-jectives were to see (from engineeringpoint of view) the construction qualityof major components/sections as well asthe coal unloading jetty and associatedinfrastructures. By any standard, thePayra Power Plant project is a successstory based on our observations on fol-lowing reasons:

a) Project Implementation Plan and Ex-ecution: Selection of young engineeringand business graduates based on skills,commitment, and ability to work hardfrom various educational institutionsacross the nation without giving prefer-ences to any particular educational in-stitution. These young graduatespossess ‘can do’ and learning attitudes,and ready to take the responsibility andmove forward. Unlike many other megaprojects in Bangladesh, a series of im-plementation tasks were undertaken si-multaneously or parallelly. For example,consultation with local people, land ac-quisition, and feasibility, environmentalimpact assessment (EIA) were under-taken in parallel to accelerate the proj-ect implementation. Similarly, landdevelopment, tender documentation,

Payra Power Plant

A National Benchmark

Prof Dr. Firoz Alam

29

Article

January 1, 2021

evaluation of equipment purchase con-tracts (EPCs) were also completed simul-taneously. The formation of projectmanagement team led by the chief ex-ecutive was most appropriate. Anotherimportant feature of Payra project wasthe condition for the suppliers/contrac-tors to render their services/ undertakeactivities worth 15% of the project costfrom their own resources without anyadvance payment so that bureaucraticlengthy approval processes could notslow down or stop the project activities.The other was the progress payment tocontractors based on achieving speci-fied milestones.

b) Power Plant Construction Quality:The Payra power plant is well designed,constructed and commissioned withhigh level of professionalism. Selectionof main components, workmanship andtheir operation and maintenance layoutare world class. Selection of boiler forlow to medium heating value coal is ap-propriate. This will allow using highheating value coal if available. The lay-out of Operation Room enablesBangladeshi and Chinese Engineers/ op-erators to sit side by side to operate thepower plant and learn from each other.This way skills will be transferred fromChinese engineers to Bangladeshi engi-neers. Coal unloading through fullyclosed conveyer belt from the jetty tocoal domes is an excellent choice. Thisminimises the surrounding soil and aircontamination by flying coal and coaldust. The layout of jetty and unloading

cranes along with their grabs look rea-sonable. However, in future, the coalunloading through grabs may need tobe modified by introducing automaticunloading system.

c) Rehabilitation and Resettlement: Theplanning and execution of rehabilitationand resettlement for affected peoplewere undertaken meticulously. I havevisited resettlement areas and spoke tosome rehabilitees (male and female).They expressed their satisfaction withthe rehabilitation and various facilities.A total of 130 families (609) peoplewere affected and rehabilitated in theresettlement area. One house per familywas provided. The settlement area hasa health and community centre, twoponds, a mosque, and most importantlya vocational school “Bangladesh-ChinaTechnical Institute”. The vocationalschool for the affected people offersthree trades (Electrical Maintenanceworks, General Mechanics, Computerand Information Technology) along withplans for foreign language courses (Eng-lish, Arabic, Bahasa Malaysia, and Man-darin). Forty-eight (48) students (nearly20% of them are girls) have already en-rolled in vocational courses. I am cer-tain that it would be the game changerfor their future as with these technicalskills they will be able to get employ-ment locally, nationally, and abroad.This endeavour by Bangladesh ChinaPower Company Limited is highly com-mendable and example for all.

The development of Payra Power Planthas had tremendous economic, social,cultural, and infrastructural impact onlocal people and the region. This remote,difficult to access area and its highlysocio-economically disadvantaged peo-ple are greatly being benefitted by thePayra Power Plant. The economic im-pact is enormous. In the constructionphase, nearly 10,000 people includingabout 4,000 Chinese nationals were in-volved. A significant number ofBangladeshi workers were from localarea. Roads, bridges, power transmissionand distribution infrastructures, andpower access to local people are beingundertaken. These are vital for the devel-opment of central southern Bangladesh.

Despite having enviable achievements,Payra Power Plant needs to overcomesome challenges.

As mentioned earlier, Payra Power Plantis fully dependent on imported coal. Itneeds annually for its two units nearly 3.3million tons coal (based on 42% thermalefficiency due to ultra super critical tech-nology, plant load factor 65% and coalheating value 4,700 kcal/kg or 19,660kJ/kg) for the next 40 to 60 years. If thelower medium heating value (5,475kcal/kg or 22,902 kJ/kg) is used instead ofcurrently used low heating value (4,700kcal/kg or 19,660 kJ/kg) coal, PayraPower Plant would require approxi-mately 2.8 million tons coal (a net savingsof 0.5 million tons annually). The boilerat Payra Power Plant has been designedfor heating value ranging from 4,144kcal/kg (17,334 kJ/kg) to 5,475 kcal/kg(22,902 kJ/kg). If the boiler was designedto deal with 6,700 kcal/kg instead of cur-rent maximum 5,475 kcal/kg heatingvalue coal, the plant would requirearound 2.3 million tons coal annually. Anet annual savings could be 1.0 milliontons. The use of high heating value coalis extremely important when coal un-loading is a serious issue due to low draftat Payra Port’s Rabnabad channel as wellas greenhouse gas emission (CO2) pointof view. In fact, high heating value coalgenerates less CO2 emission using evensub critical boiler technology than anultra super critical boiler technology forthe same amount power production. Coalunloading jetty is located around 20 kmupstream from the shallow coastal front.The average draft is around 5 to 6 m in

30January 1, 2021

Payra power plant with 2 units Photo: NWPGCL

Rabnabad channel. Furthermore, contin-uous alluvial siltation from the upstreamdue to geomorphological conditions ofthree mighty rivers: the Ganges (Padma),Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and Meghna willrequire continuous (not off and on main-tenance) dredging to keep the river/chan-nel navigable, which is almost fightingagainst mother nature. Technologically itis possible but economically it will cost afortune. A small handy max ship cancarry from 25,000 to 35,000 tons coal forwhich the ship needs a minimum 8 mdraft. The length and width of such shipare approximately 120 m and 28 m re-spectively. Specially designed handy maxship with larger width can reduce the re-quired draft to 6 m which can easily plythrough the Rabnabad channel. As thePower Plant needs coal for the next 40 to60 years, consideration for such speciallydesigned ships is worthwhile. The giantmining and resources companies such asBHP Billiton and Rio Tinto possess suchspecially designed ships for moving re-sources through shallow draftchannels/rivers. The cost of a handy maxship is around 30 to 35 million US dol-lars. Our oceangoing ship builders canbrainstorm on it. It is beyond doubt thatMatarbari deep seaport will be a tremen-dous help, but it will not be handy till2025. As a rule of thumb, before plan-ning to have a coal fired thermal powerplant, two things must be determined: a)coal sourcing origins/locations/countriesand coal quality (heating value, impuri-ties, etc.) for the entire operational life ofthe power plant, and b) designing theboiler as per the heating value of coal,impurities and source origins. Boiler can-not be designed based on any coals fromanywhere. Therefore, most coal firedpower plants generally are located at themine mouth to avoid the variation of coalquality.

Another challenge Payra Power Plant likeany other large power plants inBangladesh that needs to overcome howto evacuate power from the power plantto the load centre(s). One of the biggesthinderances is the inability to constructhigh voltage transmission lines from Payrato the nation’s largest load centre Dhakaand its surroundings. The nearest load cen-tre is Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia, Faridpurand Barisal. Unfortunately, till now neitherDhaka nor any other load centres exceptBarisal are connected to Payra for powerevacuation. The transmission infrastruc-

tures should have been completed beforethe completion of power plant so that thetesting and commissioning could be donein real life scenario. Currently a 400 kVtransmission line was constructed up toGopalganj which will be later extended toDhaka (will take some time) and a 230 kVline to Patuakhali which is currently beingconstructed by Payra Power Plant itself. In-ability to evacuate power from Payra willsignificantly restrict its full plant factor andwastage of country’s valuable resources. Itwould be prudent to build two parallel400 kV and 765 kV national high voltagetransmission backbones connecting allmajor load centres with generation hubs(Payra, Materbari, Rampal, Rooppur, etc.).As we are planning to increase power im-port from India, it would be highly benefi-cial to synchronise our high voltagetransmission lines with Indian andBhutanese (and later Nepalese) high volt-age transmission backbones. India’s na-tional high voltage transmission is 765 kV.For example, Pakistan’s national transmis-sion backbone is 500 kV. As a rule ofthumb, for each km transmission distance,at least 1 kV needs to be increased to min-imise the transmission loss especially forsub-tropical country like Bangladesh. Wemust start 400 kV and 765 kV transmissionlines connecting Rooppur, Martarbari,Rampal and Payra with major load centres(Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, My-mensingh, Sylhet, Comilla, Jessore, Kush-tia, Rajshahi, Rangpaur and all existingand future export processing zones (EPZs)across the country. Nuclear power plantgenerally runs at a plant factor of 92%. It

would be disastrous if we cannot evacuatepower from Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant(2 x 1200 MW = 2,400 MW) once it goesto operation by 2024/2025.

In a nutshell, Payra Power Plant is a na-tional benchmark especially for its re-markable planning to construction andcommissioning in a short time span,world class rehabilitation and resettle-ment of affected people. Medium andhigh heating value coal should be usedto reduce required import volume andgreenhouse emission. Lateral and out ofbox thinking is required to solve low draftdifficulties for coal import at Payra. Its re-settlement project is a national bench-mark model that can be replicatednationally for all projects. The Payra re-settlement model can also be used forother emerging and developing nations.The skills recruitment model used forPayra should also be used for otherpower projects in Bangladesh. High volt-age power evacuation transmission linesmust be constructed before the physicalcompletion of power plants. The mistakethat was made for Payra should not berepeated for Rooppur, Materbari, Rampaland other major power producing hubs.Additionally, our high voltage transmis-sion lines need to be well synchronisedwith neighbouring India, Bhutan andNepal for bilateral and regional powertrade or exchange.

Professor Firoz Alam;School of Engineering (Aerospace,Mechanical and Manufacturing)RMIT University, Australia

31January 1, 2021

Payra power plant complex with jetty Photo: NWPGCL

EP

“……..Local coal extraction forpower generation is neither feasiblenor cost-effective”- a remark from

State Minister for Power, Energy andMineral Resources Mr. Nasrul Hamidcomes as no surprise. He made this re-marks while speaking at a webinar on“EP Talks: Payra Power Plant: An Exam-ple of Timely Execution” recently. Mr.Nasrul has probably had drawn suchconclusion based on dismal mining ex-perience in Barapukuria. He might alsotake consideration of recently com-pleted underground mine feasibilitystudy in Dighipara coal field. While thisstatement comes as surprise to many butnot to the industry insider with practicalexperience in this field, who have longopined that the geological setup of thecoal bearing basins of Bangladesh don’tpermit economic extraction of coalusing underground mining method.

Bangladesh needs to explore alternativemining methods, and where feasible,open cut mining would be the best pos-sible option to recover its limited mine-able resource. The underground miningexperience and the mine feasibilitystudy have just re-established the obvi-ous outcome — UNDERGROUND MIN-ING IS NOT THE VIABLE OPTION FORBANGLADESH.

Underground Mining Not DeliveringThe coal basins in Bangladesh are usu-ally of asymmetric half-graben sedimen-tary basin, bearing coal measures ofPermian age. Three credible mine feasi-bility studies, so far completed, have ex-tensively explored Barapukuria,Dighipara and Phulbari coal fields andestablished the resource base to interna-tional resource classification standards.The deposits are characterized by multi-ple coal seams (generally 5-6 seams)

with the major one account for about 60-70% of the estimated resource. This is the‘seam of interest’ for underground mineplanning as other coal seams are techni-cally not feasible to mine and leave nooption but to be left unmined. Thus asacrifice of about 30-40% of the valuableresources is forced to make at the veryfirst stage of underground mine planning.

Seam thickness and equipment technol-ogy also limit resource recovery andrate of production from the Target Seam.The proposed underground mine plan-ning in Dighipara sets the target of 90Mt of coal recovery from Seam B (~30m thick) in slices over a period of 25years at an annual rate of 3 Mt. Theplanned recovery, if achieved, would beabout 21% of the mineable reserve ofthe Target Seam (Seam B- 428 Mt) andoverall only 12% of total estimated re-serve (706 Mt). Barapukuria mine is de-signed to extract 25-30 Mt out of thetotal estimated reserve of 390 Mt over aperiod of 20-25 years (estimated recov-ery 6-8%). The coal extraction is beingcarried out in slices at Seam VI (36 mthick) and the mine, so far over its 15+years production life has only recovereda total of about 10 Mt at an annual av-erage rate of 0.6 Mt. This is how under-ground mining delivers or projected todeliver for Bangladesh! The extremepoor recovery, leaving 90% coal un-mined, is understandably neither feasi-ble nor cost effective: Just a costlywastage of valuable natural resources,time and money.

The cost of production in undergroundmining is inherently higher, whichcould only be possible to offset byachieving higher coal resource recoveryand by increasing production scale

Open Cut Mining - Option forDomestic Coal Development

Zubayer Zaman

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January 1, 2021

A view of Barapukria coal mine File Photo

(larger coal output to reduce cost pertonne). But as coal recovery is extremelypoor and production rate is relativelylow, the obvious outcome is excessivehigh production costs, which is reportedto be more than US$ 100/tonne in Bara-pukuria mine and would be even higherin the proposed Dighipara undergroundmine. This is neither economic nor jus-tifiable in any sense while in the inter-national market coal price is well belowthe cost of coal mining in Bangladesh. Coal based power project alwaysprefers a secured and steady supply ofcoal at competitive cost. Undergroundmining in Bangladesh fails to deliversuch supply security and thus fails to at-tract potential investor to setup largecoal fired power plant based on domes-tic coal. Barapukuria Mine, which hadall the potential to support large scalepower generation, is now even strug-gling to feed only 525 MW mine mouthpower plants. This is just a ‘lost oppor-tunity’ for the country because of choos-ing inappropriate mining method.

Open Pit Mining to Deliver

Then what is the best option forBangladesh to mine its limited valuablecoal resource! A close look at Phulbariopen cut mine plan is worth useful atthis point when underground mining isconsidered not to be feasible and costeffective.

The Phulbari mine feasibility study con-sidered both open cut and undergroundoptions and identified open cut methodas the only technically viable option foreconomic extraction of Phulbari de-posit. The study also confirmed that un-derground mining at Phulbari will leadto a poor resource recovery, about 10-20% of the coal resource and will notbe economically viable. Dighipara minefeasibility study and mining experiencein Barapukuria support the Phulbarifindings!

Phulbari is the shallowest coal basin inBangladesh with coal seam depth rangesbetween 150-270 meters. The basin hasan in-situ resource of 572 million tonnesof high-quality bituminous coal. The pro-posed open cut mine plan sets the targetof recovering 475 million tonnes of ROMcoal, which represents about 83% of the

total resource. However, the mineable re-serve is calculated down to the base of theMain Seam only, and there are opportuni-ties to mine the lower seams (total resource58 Mt) which may be realized as theseams become accessible. Thus, a high re-covery (>90%) can be achieved against apoor recovery (<10%) in undergroundmethod. Phulbari mine with such highamount of recoverable reserve could po-tentially be the powerhouse for country’sprimary fuel supply and bring a balancebetween import and domestic coal supplymix. Just imagine how many Barapukuriasize mine requires to match with the coalrecovery of Phulbari open cut mine!

Open cut mining in Phulbari is ex-pected to deliver reliable and stablesupply of large quantities of coal (15Mt/annum at full production rate) for aperiod of over 30 years. The cost of pro-duction, reported to be less than US$50/tonne, is far lower in comparison tothat of underground mine options. Thisis an attractive proposition for any large-scale power generation project wherelong term fuel supply is ensured, coalquality is consistent, and price is com-petitive. A study revealed that the Phul-bari mine production alone can supportgeneration of 6,000 MW of electricityusing latest ultra-supercritical planttechnology, either in the mine mouthand/or strategically located sites else-where in Bangladesh. However, minemouth power generation is consideredto be cost effective, delivers lowest tariffpower compared to any other options of

coal fired power generation, eitherbased on import or domestic sources. Athird of country’s projected coal firedpower generation target (19,000 MW by2041) can be fed alone by Phulbaricoal. This is how open cut mining inPhulbari makes the difference - in termsof resource recovery, supply securityand power generation potential.

Bangladesh needs coal to meet itsplanned coal fired generation target.Coal import is projected to be on therise, making reliance on imported pri-mary fuel even higher. However, it is al-ways a preferred and cost-effectiveoption to use domestic energy sources,either entirely, or in part to supplementimport sources. But domestic coal sup-ply so far seems uncertain because ofpoor outcome of underground mining:the recovery is poor; cost of productionis high and thus not feasible and cost ef-fective for power generation. Now it istime to look into the other mining op-tions- the Open Cut Mining, which of-fers better economics, supply stabilityand reliability over the longer period.The Phulbari mine plan presents the op-portunity to compare how open cutmining in similar geological set upcould deliver best for the country.PHULBARI COULD BE THE ‘MINE OFOPPORTUNITY’ FOR BANGLADESH.

Zubayer Zaman;Geologist, <geozaman@gmail.com>

34January 1, 2021

EP

Drilling in Phulbari coal field File Photo

Aglobal economic recovery in2021 is expected to drive a

short-lived rebound in coal de-mand following the major drop thisyear triggered by the Covid-19 cri-sis, according to a new report fromthe International Energy Agency.

However, there is little sign that theworld’s coal consumption is set todecline substantially in the comingyears, with rising demand in someAsian economies offsetting de-clines elsewhere, said a press re-lease.

As coal is by far the single largestsource of global energy-related car-bon emissions, the trends outlinedin the report pose a major chal-lenge to efforts to put those emis-sions on a path compatible withreaching climate and sustainableenergy goals.

The past two years have seen his-toric falls in global coal demand,led by unprecedented drops in theUnited States and Europe, saysCoal 2020, the latest edition of the

IEA’s annual market report on thesector.

A 1.8% decline in coal demand in2019 resulted mainly from weakgrowth in electricity demand andlow natural gas prices. Latest esti-mates from the IEA suggest coal de-mand will have plunged by afurther 5% in 2020 on the eco-nomic fallout from Covid-19.

“The Covid-19 crisis has com-pletely reshaped global coal mar-kets. Before the pandemic, weexpected a small rebound in coaldemand in 2020, but we havesince witnessed the largest drop incoal consumption since the SecondWorld War,” said KeisukeSadamori, the IEA’s Director of En-ergy Markets and Security.

“The decline would have beeneven steeper without the strongeconomic rebound in China — theworld’s largest coal consumer — inthe second half of the year.”

Based on the assumption of a re-covery in the world economy, the

IEA report forecasts a 2.6% rise inglobal coal demand in 2021,driven by higher electricity de-mand and industrial output.

China, India and Southeast Asianeconomies account for most of thegrowth, although the United Statesand Europe may also both see theirfirst increases in coal consumptionin nearly a decade.

However, global coal demand in2021 is still forecast to remainbelow 2019 levels and could beeven lower if the report’s assump-tions for the economic recovery,electricity demand or natural gasprices are not met.

The rebound in coal demand in2021 is set to be short-lived, withcoal use forecast to flatten out by2025 at around 7.4 billion tonnes.This would make 2013, whenglobal coal demand reached 8 bil-lion tonnes, coal’s all-time peak.

“Renewables are on track to sur-pass coal as the largest source ofelectricity in the world by 2025.And by that time, natural gas willlikely have taken over coal as thesecond largest source of primaryenergy after oil,” said Mr Sadamori.

The future of coal will largely be de-cided in Asia. Today, China and Indiaaccount for 65% of global coal de-mand. With Japan, Korea, Taiwanand Southeast Asia included, thatshare rises to 75%. China, which cur-rently accounts for half of the world’scoal consumption, will be especiallyinfluential.

By 2025, the European Union andUnited States will account for lessthan 10% of global coal demand,down from 37% in 2000. This willmake the impacts of any furtherchanges in demand in these mar-kets very limited.

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Rebound in Global Coal Demand Set to beShort-Lived in 2021: IEA

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January 1, 2021

Planning Minister MAMannan has said that

electricity supply will con-tribute immensely in povertyalleviation in the country byimproving the livelihood ofrural people.

"The government has beenable to curtail the country'spoverty rate through provid-ing uninterrupted electricityacross the country," said theplanning minister.

"Electricity is the most effec-tive tool for reducing thepoverty rate because hard-working laborers of the ruralareas will be able to work tillnight," he added.

He made the observation re-cently while speaking as thechief guest at the workshoptitled: "Learning and Closingworkshop of the Civic En-

gagement Al-liance (CEA)Program" or-ganized byICCO Cooper-ation.

Planning Min-ister MA Man-nan said that

electricity has reached manyrural people's door steps andis facilitating them to increas-ing poor rural people's abilityto generate income.

Palli Karma-Sahayak Founda-tion (PKSF) Chairman DrQazi KholiquzzamanAhmad, Team Leader — Food& Nutrition Security and Sus-tainable Development KoenEveraert, Delegation of theEuropean Union toBangladesh, Senior ResearchFellow, Centre for Policy Di-alogue (CPD)Towfiqul IslamKhan, and Senior Food Secu-rity Advisor, Embassy of theKingdom of the NetherlandsOsman Haruni, were pre-sented as the special guests.

Head of Programs, ICCO Co-operation Abul Kalam Azadchaired the session.

Electricity Access Wipes OutPoverty: Mannan

The Executive Committeeof the National Economic

Council recently extended aproject to install prepaid gasmeters in Dhaka households,which will see 1.2 lakh moreprepaid connections by De-cember 2022.

Residents of the capital cansave 38 percent in costs ifthey are using prepaid gasmeters, which also results insimilarly reduced wastage ofthe utility, found a recent sur-vey by Titas Gas Transmis-sion and DistributionCompany Limited.

Titas is commissioning themeters at households inDhaka to minimize wastageof the utility, and has set up200,000 meters in the firsttwo phases of the project thatbegan in January 2015.

Planning Commission Mem-ber Nasima Begum saidPrime Minister SheikhHasina, while presiding overthe weekly Ecnec meeting re-cently, observed that prepaid

gas meters should be set upat more households."If we can install prepaid gasmeters in commercial and in-dustrial zones, we will beable to save more gas,"Nasima said, quoting the PM.

Nasima said Titas in a surveyfound that after commission-ing prepaid meters, a house-hold using a double-burnerstove consumes gas worth Tk605 per month on average.

A household without a pre-paid gas meter needs to payTk 975 to use a double-burner stove. Therefore,using prepaid meters cansave Tk 370, or 38 percent.

She added that according tothe survey, on average, aconsumer used 78.12 cubicmetres of natural gas everymonth, which came down to48.06 cubic metres after set-ting up a prepaid meter.

She was talking to journalistsafter the Ecnec meeting,which approved the secondextension of the project.

1.2 lakh More Households to GetPrepaid Gas Meters in Dhaka

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The U.S. Department ofEnergy has announced

that it has extended the termsof seven long-term liquefiednatural gas export authoriza-tions through 2050.

The U.S. Department of En-ergy (DOE) has announcedthat it has extended the termsof seven long-term liquefiednatural gas (LNG) export au-thorizations through 2050.

Under the DOE’s latest move,the Golden Pass facility cur-rently under construction inSabine Pass, the Texas LNGproject proposed forBrownsville, the proposed

Magnolia andD r i f t w o o dprojects inLouisiana and

the Delfin LNG export proj-ect proposed for offshoreLouisiana have had their ex-port terms extended.

An extended export term hasalso been approved for Sem-pra Energy’s Costa Azul proj-ect in Mexico.

“The success story of U.S.LNG continues to be writtenand these extended authori-zations will ensure that thebenefits from these exportscontinue for decades tocome,” U.S. Secretary of En-ergy Dan Brouillette said in agovernment statement.

US Extends 7 LNG ExportAuthorizations to 2050

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ZIO-Podolsk JSC, an enter-prise of Rosatom Me-

chanical EngineeringDivision has manufacturedand shipped set of mainequipment including Emer-gency Core Cooling System(ECCS) Tanks for RooppurNuclear Power Plant (NPP).

The second set of ECCS Tanksfor the reactor core has beenshipped to Bangladesh. Theequipment is intended for thereactor hall of the second NPPPower Unit, said a release.

The Emergency Core CoolingSystem Tanks are includedinto the reactor plant - oneTank for each reactor coolantloop.

The ECCS is designed for au-tomatic supply of boric acidcooling solution to the reac-tor core in case of coolantloss and shall be put in oper-ation in case of the primarycircuit emergency depressuri-sation.

ECCS Tanks for Roopur NPPShipped from Russia

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January 1, 2021

Bangladesh Energy Regula-tory Commission (BERC)

is set to hold a public hearingfor fixing the price of lique-fied petroleum gas (LPG) atconsumer level on January14, 17 and 18.

Now there is no bar to holdthe hearing as we receivedproposals from 28 compa-nies, including BangladeshPetroleum Corporation(BPC), for fixing the price ofliquefied petroleum gas(LPG) at consumer level, asenior official of the commis-sion said.

According to the official, theprivate companies wants Tk

1050 to Tk1200for a 12.5 kg bot-tle of LPG. TheBPC wants TK

700 for the same amount.

BERC fixes natural gas pricebut it had never fixed LPGprice. It fixed by the marketplayers.

There is no LPG price moni-toring system or existence ofenergy pricing policy to dis-cuss the issue although LPGconsumption in the countryhas increased four times be-tween 2016 and 2020.

About 57 LPG companies arenow dominating the unlim-ited market who suppliesover 1.0 million tonnes ofLPG each year in the country.BPC has a very insignificantmarket.

3-Day Public Hearing onLPG Price from Jan 14

Bangladesh Power Devel-opment Board (BPDB),

one of the corporate sponsorsof the state-run Power GridCompany of Bangladesh(PGCB) Limited, has decidedto sell 3.43 crore shares itheld in Power Grid in thepublic market.

According to a disclosure onDhaka Stock Exchange web-site, BPDB has expressed itsintention to sell 3.43 croreshares out of its total holdingof 60.32 crore shares of thecompany at prevailing mar-ket price in the public marketthrough Stock Exchange.

The state-run organization's

shares will be sold within thenext 90 working days, thedisclosure said. The com-pany’s 84.64 per cent owner-ship belongs to BPDB.

The government has Tk5,071 crore investments asshare money deposits atPower Grid that would grad-ually be converted intoshares.

Earlier on November 27,2019, the Bangladesh Securi-ties and Exchange Commis-sion approved the issuance of25.18 crore shares by PowerGrid Company ofBangladesh against Tk251.81 crore investment ofBangladesh Power Develop-ment Board.

The 25.18 crore shares arelocked-in as a strategic in-vestment and the sharescould not be transferred ortraded without prior approvalof the commission.

BPDB to Sell 3.43cr Shares ofPower Grid

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Ashuganj Power StationCompany Limited

(APSCL) has recommendedan 8.50% rate for APSCLnon-convertible and fully re-deemable coupon bearingbond for the first year.

The first-year period is from 5January this year to 4 January,2021.

The record date for entitle-ment of the bond's couponrate profit was set for 4 Janu-ary, 2021.

Last year, the company is-sued bonds worth Tk500crore through private place-ments among state-ownedbanks and financial institu-

tions to finance its 400MWpower plant, which is nowunder construction.

Acting upon the government'sadvice to increase tradablebonds on stock exchanges,bonds worth Tk100 crorewere sold to general investorsthrough an initial public offer-ing (IPO), with a face value ofTk5,000 per unit.

With a tenure of seven years,the bonds offer an interest rateranging from 8.50% to 10.50%.They have been traded on thesecondary market of DhakaStock Exchange (DSE).

After the news was revealedon the DSE website, the unit

price of the bondcame down by 2%to Tk5,220 onSunday. The clos-ing price of thebonds was set atTk5,207 per unit.

Ashuganj Power Recommends8.50% Coupon Rate

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Royal Dutch Shell recentlysaid it will write down the

value of oil and gas assets by$3.5 billion to $4.5 billionfollowing a string of impair-ments this year as it adjusts toa weaker outlook.

In an update ahead of itsfourth quarter results on Feb-ruary 4, Shell said the post-tax charge was due in part toimpairments on its Appomat-tox field in the U.S. Gulf ofMexico, the closure of re-fineries and liquefied naturalgas (LNG) contracts.

It said some charges involvedin its restructuring would berecognized in 2021. Shell

shares were down byaround 4 per cent inearly trading in Lon-don.

In October, Shell, the world’sbiggest LNG trader, wrotedown the value of its LNGportfolio by just under $1 bil-lion, focusing on its flagshipPrelude project in Australia.

That followed a $16.8 billionwritedown in the secondquarter which also includedPrelude and a sharp cut in itsprice outlook.

CEO Ben van Beurden onFeb. 11 will unveil Shell’slong-term strategy to sharplyreduce its greenhouse gasemissions and expand itslow-carbon energy andpower businesses.

Shell to Write DownOil, Gas Assets Again

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January 1, 2021

On December 1, 2007,Russian President

Vladimir Putin signed a de-cree to dissolve the then ex-isting nuclear agency andestablish a state-owned nu-clear corporation Rosatom.

Since then, Rosatom hasbeen a nuclear industry of theRussian Federation in its en-tirety and complexity. De-spite the coronavirusdifficulties and restrictions,the industry has seen manyimportant events in 2020.

On May 22, the world’s onlyfloating nuclear power plantwas put into operation inPevek (Chukotka, Russia). It isalso the first SMR commis-sioned in the 21st century.

On October 22, Leningrad IINPP Unit 2 with a VVER-1200 reactor was connectedto Russia’s national powergrid. On November 12,2020, the newly commis-sioned Leningrad II Unit 2started supplying heat andhot water to the neighboringtown of Sosnovy Bor.

On November 3, BelarusNPP Unit 1 with a VVER-1200 reactor was connectedto the national power grid ofBelarus. This is the first Gen-eration III+ reactor unit builtabroad to the Russian design.

The nuclear power plants inRussia are expected to gener-ate record-high 214.965 bil-

lion kWh ofelectricity bythe end of 2020.

Over the lastfive years,Rosatom haslaunched 87new businesses.Nine of them(wind power,composite ma-terials, nuclearmedicine, waste

management, oil and gasservices, digitalization, smartcity system, international lo-gistics and additive technol-ogy) are strategic programs,two of which — additive tech-nology and international lo-gistics — have been kicked offin 2020. Revenue from newbusinesses in 2020 is ex-pected to reach RUB 257 bil-lion, up 12.7% year on year.

Rosatom has revamped six ofits R&D institutes involved innuclear research. In general,Rosatom’s research and devel-opment centers and laborato-ries carry out about 150research programs in ten fields,including laser, fusion, plasma,hydrogen and spent fuel man-agement technologies.

The Russian nuclear industrycelebrates its 75th anniver-sary in 2020. For threefourths of a century, Rosatomhas grown into Russia’s majortechnology company and aglobal leader in many areasof research.

Rosatom develops complextechnologies, bringing themfrom concept to market. TheRussian nuclear corporationhas accumulated vast knowl-edge and uses it to make lifesafer and easier despite anychallenges on the national orinternational scale.

Rosatom’s Year of Nuclear

The Federation ofBangladesh Chambers of

Commerce and Industry(FBCCI) has urged the Finnishentrepreneurs to set up man-ufacturing units inBangladesh for the benefits ofthe two countries.

It also suggested them to in-vest in healthcare, renewableenergy, sustainable forestryand smart agriculture sectorsin Bangladesh.

The apex trade body madethe call during a virtual dis-cussion, styled 'FinlandBangladesh Business Event onBilateral Trade and InvestmentOpportunities in the OngoingGlobal Pandemic and Be-yond', on Wednesday last.

The FBCCI and the FinnishChamber of Commerce

(FINNCHAM) jointly organ-ized the event.

Addressing the event as thechief guest, Commerce Minis-ter Tipu Munshi said that Fin-land is one of those Europeancountries who first recognizedBangladesh. He observed thattrade between the two coun-tries increased steadily in re-cent years. Exporters ofBangladesh are eager to findmore opportunities in Fin-land, he mentioned.

Ville Skinnari, minister, min-

istry of development cooper-ation and foreign trade of Fin-land, who also addressed theprogram, said, "Before Covid,trade between the two coun-tries expanded slowly butsteadily. "We hope we willget back to the track quickly,"he said.

FBCCI president Sheikh FazleFahim suggested that Finnishcompanies, like Wärtsilä, canset up manufacturing plantsin Bangladesh.

The FBCCI chief elaboratedthat the two countries couldgo for joint partnership inhealthcare, renewable en-ergy, sustainable forestry andsmart agriculture for theirmutual benefits.

President and CEO of FINN-CHAM, Juho Romakkaniemi,said the Finnish companies

are interested in looking fornew business opportunitiesas Bangladesh is taking newsteps in modernization of theeconomy.

President and CEO of Wärt-silä, Mr. Jaakko Eskola, whowas also present, said: "Westarted our operation inBangladesh in early 90's.Now we are leaders in pro-viding components in the en-ergy sector. In the future, wehave to emphasize renew-able energy."

Wärtsilä Can Set Up ManufacturingUnits in Bangladesh

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Irrigation and electric vehicle sectorsshould be the focus areas for renew-able energy applications in

Bangladesh, Prime Minister’s EnergyAdvisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhuryhas said.

He made the remarks at a webinar on'Renewable Energy Storage: Opportu-nities and Challenges', organized bySustainable and Renewable Energy De-velopment Authority (Sreda) recently.

According to Chowdhury, the govern-ment is now burdened with extra elec-tricity generation for peak hourconsumption.

“If the targeted 10% solar electricity isadded to the grid, it will augment theexisting power generation. So, the bestuse of solar power should be in the ir-rigation sector and as well as for charg-

ing electric vehicles," he said.

As per Sreda statistics, the country hasabout 1.34 million diesel- irrigationpumps for which the government hastaken up projects to convert them intosolar-run systems.

The virtual seminar, chaired by Sredachief Mohammad Alauddin, was alsoaddressed by Power Cell Director Gen-eral Mohammad Hossain and UnitedInternational University Prof RezwanKhan.

Prof Ziauur Rahman Khan ofBangladesh University of Engineeringand Technology (BUET) conducted theseminar while Paul Freunscht, Execu-tive Director of Intel, Germany, and DrEckehard Troster, CEO of Energynau-tics, Germany, made keynote presenta-tions on the topic.

'Irrigation, EV Sectors Should bethe Focus Areas of Solar Energy'

Commercial solar charging systemhas started gaining popularity asmany people are getting benefits

from the modern system in the region in-cluding its vast Barind tract for the lastcouple of years.

In line with the system, success has beenattained in the solar charging system in-stalled around two and half years backhere experimentally aims at lesseningthe gradually mounting pressure onelectricity.

Auto-rickshaws are being given chargesat a cost-effective rate through the solarcharging system creating hope amongthe auto-rickshaw drivers and owners inDamkura area under Paba Upazila inthe district.

Launched as a model the project hasbeen meeting up power deficits side byside generating hope among the publicin general.

Apart from charging auto-rickshaw, thesolar system has also operated an auto-rice mill that also created a positive im-pact among the surrounding people inChabbishnagar area under GodagariUpazila.

The solar power charging stations wereinstalled with technical and financialsupport from Rajshahi Palli BidyutSamity (RPBS).

Solar ChargeSystem Starts

Gaining Popularityin Rajshahi

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40January 1, 2021

Under the slogan 'Green Bangladesh,Clean Bangladesh', a move is under-

way to produce renewable energy fromgarbage of the municipality.

This garbage-based energy productionproject is first in the country. Already, thefoundation stone of the plant has beenlaid at Bonbaria area, in the outskirt of thetown.

Using modern technology, garbage of dif-ferent areas of the municipality will be re-cycled to produce energy.

A contract has been signed between Sira-jganj Municipality and UK's ScholarsPower Limited. The project will be imple-mented in one year.

With this, garbage will no longer remainpiled here and there in the municipality.Disease or harmful contamination will notbe created. Sirajganj will be a pollution-free town.

On Nov 2, the foundation was laid byScholars Power Limited in cooperation ofBangladesh's Enduring Energy Limited inthe municipality's own land.

It was laid by Sirajganj-2 (Sadar-Kamark-hand) Lawmaker Lecturer Dr Md Habib-e-Millat and Municipality Mayor SyedAbdur Rouf Mukta.

RE to be Producedfrom Waste in

Sirajganj

The government is moving to save solarmini-grids supplying green energy in

remote areas from incurring staggeringlosses and closure as power distributioncompanies expand operations in off-gridareas.

Power tariff from such mini-grids is muchhigher compared to grid-electricity, an of-ficial at the Sustainable and RenewableEnergy Development Authority (Sreda)said, explaining that if the tariff for a 50-unit consumer of grid electricity is Tk 3.75per unit, it is Tk 18-35 for a mini-grid con-sumer

Official sources said 26 solarmini-grids have so far been setup in different areas and theirtotal general capacity is about5 megawatts. They said thePower Division primarily cal-culated the asset value of thesemini-grids at Tk 109 crore.

Sreda, the agency responsiblefor promotion of green energyand energy conservation, islikely to finalize the modalities

and other tariff related issues within amonth to purchase electricity from solarmini-grids across the country.

According to official sources, Sreda willsit with the stakeholders over the next twoweeks to settle some issues about themodalities of electricity purchase and tar-iff-related matters.

"We've made some good progress but weneed to have another meeting to settle theissues," Mohammad Alauddin, Chairmanof Sreda, and also an additional secretaryat the Power Division

Green Energy Getting a Shot in the Arm

U.S. developer Eleris Energy has initi-ated talks to set up 2.2 GW of solar

power plant capacity in Bangladesh.

The Asia-focused gas-to-power and re-newables company has proposed jointventures with the Bangladesh Power De-velopment Board, its Ashuganj PowerStation Company Ltd and the BangladeshArmy.

Eleris has identified around 5,500 acresfor long-term lease from the Bangladeshigovernment and for private purchase,along the Chittagong coast.

The army is involved because Eleris isplanning 1 GW of solar capacity on the“Swarno Dweep” island in Noakhali dis-trict which the armed forces use as atraining camp.

The Eleris proposal, which is underconsideration by the government ac-cording to a Bangladesh Power De-velopment Board official, alsoinvolves setting up 600 MW of solarcapacity with the power develop-ment body and the same scale withits Ashuganj Power Station Com-pany, which runs gas-fired genera-tion facilities in the nation.

The total, 2.2 GW of solar capacitywould be supplied through 200 MWsolar farms, five of which would be sitedon the 360km2 Swarno Dweep, in theestuary of the Meghna river, provided thearmy supply the land as an equity invest-ment in the project.

US Developer Eleris Plans 2.2 GW ofSolar in Bangladesh

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PowerCell Sweden AB has receivedan order for two MS-100 fuel cell

systems from a global U.S. agricultureequipment manufacturer.

The systems will be used to test an elec-trification of tractors using fuel cells andhydrogen and will be delivered duringthe fourth quarter 2020 and the firstquarter 2021 respectively.

The MS-100 fuel cell system has beendeveloped for an electrification of,among other things, vehicles within the

off-road segment, i.e., material handlingequipment, construction equipment andvarious other types of vehicles such asagriculture equipment.

The off-road segment requires reliableoperation, high power output and flexi-bility but also a good ability to withstandshocks and vibrations.

The current order has been placed by amajor manufacturer of agricultureequipment and the systems will be usedto test an electrification of tractors usingfuel cells and hydrogen.

Earlier this year, PowerCell Sweden an-nounced new strategic priorities includ-ing a prioritization of applicationswithin the marine, stationary and theoff-road segment.

PowerCell ReceivesOrder for Two Fuel

Cell SystemsJapan needs to boost renewable energy

by reforming outdated policies onland use and the national grid if it is tomeet a new goal of carbon neutrality by2050, industry players and experts say.

Since announcing the 2050 target inNovember, Prime Minister YoshihideSuga's government has pledged tospend $20 billion on green tech and setambitious new wind power targets.

But the world's third-largest economyhas a lot of catching up to do, said KenIsono, CEO of renewable energy com-pany Shizen Energy.

"Japan could be a leading country in

solar, 15 years ago it usedto be," he said. "But Ithink Japan lacked visionand so it got totally leftbehind."

Critics have long bemoaned a lack ofambition in Japan's policy, which cur-rently aims for 22-24 percent of thecountry's energy to come from renew-ables by 2030.

Around 17 percent already came fromrenewables in 2017, and a combinationof growth in the sector and a pandemic-related fall in demand means Japan is ontrack to meet its 2030 target this year.

Japan was the sixth-biggest contributorto global greenhouse emissions in 2017,according to the International EnergyAgency.

Japan’s RE Sector SeeksCarbon-Neutral Windfall

For the first time in DTEK’s history,CEO Maxim Timchenko recently pre-

sented the company’s 2030 corporatestrategy at its partly public annual seniormanagement conference.

DTEK has committed itself to transform-ing into a greener, more efficient andtechnologically advanced business. Im-plementing the strategy will contribute

significantly to the decar-bonisation of both theUkrainian and Europeaneconomy.

DTEK’s 2030 strategy is based on theESG principles, ethical business valuesand the desire to meet the current needsof society, as well as global energy anddevelopment trends in Ukraine. Theseare the key factors which will determinethe company's future in the decadeahead.

DTEK Presents New 2030Corporate Strategy

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There is a $205-billion opportunity inrenewable energy for Southeast Asia

from which China, Japan, and SouthKorea could benefit as the biggest en-ergy lenders to smaller countries in theregion, Greenpeace has said in a newreport.

“These three East Asian countries are topglobal energy investors, with establishedties in Southeast Asia. But coal finance isdrying up and banks are struggling to geta grip on clean energy finance. The cli-mate crisis depends heavily on the flexi-bility and ingenuity of East Asian finance.And state-backed public development

banks once againneed to play thetrailblazer role toengage new mar-kets,” according to

Insung Lee, project manager of Green-peace Japan’s climate and energy team.

Southeast Asian countries, according tothe report, will need investments ofsome $125.1 billion for solar energyover the next ten years, as well as $48.1billion for wind energy, assuming theywant to pursue the renewable energypath instead of sticking to fossil fuels.

And China, Japan, and South Korea arein a position to convince them tochoose the renewable energy path byinvesting in solar and wind rather thanfossil fuels.

Southeast Asia’s $200+ BillionRenewables Opportunity

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From Paris declaration 2015 vulner-able countries find hopes and as-piration to keep global warming

within 2 degree and more ambitiousproposition of 1.5 degree with an ex-pectation to keep the nature in favor ofthem. If this declaration could beachieved sea level rise will be at aslower pace and the Small IslandCountries may not be extinct or gounder the sea water, inundation bysaline water will come at slower pace,less cyclone and tornado, more livableplanet. Unfortunately, some of the bigemitters though signed Paris declara-tion, less committed to follow that andall we know the biggest emitter USA fi-nally withdrawn from the agreement.Ray of hope is USA’s election resultmay change the scenario.

What sorts of climate disaster are goingon? Stock taking of last few months willsay the frequency and magnitude ofdisaster are higher day by day. Just toname a few, only in September thisyear are North American Wildfire,September 11, Atlantic HurricaneSeptember 11, Beirut Explosion, Sep-tember 10, Sudan Flooding, Septem-ber 9, Venezuelan Humanitarian andRefugee Crisis, September 7. Thesedisasters along with this month’s Ty-phon Gani and super cyclone Am-phan in May caused a huge damageall over the globe including Philip-pines and Bangladesh.

In a report on Hurricane on 6 Octo-ber it was said that all the records the2020 Hurricane season has brokenso far. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane

season has been hyperactive with 25named storms, including nine hurri-canes, spinning across much of the At-lantic basin. Those storms have setseveral records through early October.

Global surface temperature for the firstnine months of 2020 shows that inmany months it had new higher recordand so far, this year records the highesttemperature. So, it is most likely thatthe frequency of extreme environmen-tal events, such as forest fires, hurri-canes, heat waves, floods, droughts,and storms will be much higher. Thenumber of natural disasters has tripledfrom thirty years ago and climatechange is a factor in causing this higherrate.

Natural disasters cause huge loss of life,damage of properties, change of pro-fession, degradation of soil, change ofagriculture pattern, forced migration,health hazards, hampers education, de-

stroys culture, reduces life expectancy;life and quality of life come at a stake.This year, Corona, another climate dis-aster brought the economic life almostat a halt, till October 2020 more than1.2 million death: none knows whereit will stop. It is predicted that this yearadditional 88 million to 115 millionpeople has been pushed to extremepoverty for Covid 19 with the total ris-ing to as many as 150 million by 2021,depending on the severity of the eco-nomic contraction.

At the back drop of unprecedented cli-mate change, Agenda SDG 2030 threwa herculean challenge to the wholeglobe with its 17 Goals, 169 targets and232 indicators, 5P (people, planet,prosperity, peace and partnership) atthe core, ‘Leaving no one behind asMantra promote the coordinated devel-opment of the trio of economic growth,social inclusion and environmentalsustainability worldwide and Localiza-tion as main tool for implementation.Covid 19 made the agenda 2030 moredifficult to achieve.

We find that with digital transformationlocalization allows governments to ef-fectively tailor sustainable develop-ment strategies at the local level. TheLocal Governments shall also be madeto join the hands to achieve the SDGs.The SDGs shall be integrated acrossthe 3 dimensions of sustainability,across all sectors of the economy andsociety, and from the local to Nationallevel. Localization requires local gov-ernments’ effective planning by ensur-ing that budgetary allocations reflect

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January 1, 2021

COVID 19

the priorities of local communities. Ap-propriate funding for development pro-grams and projects and effectiveapplication at the local level are alsoimportant. Adequate data are necessaryto identify and follow-up with decisionmakers, which requires a review of in-stitutional competence in dealing withinformation and data and the use ofdigital transformation for this purpose.

Why Localization and how it works ef-fectively? Localizing the SDGs meansmaking the aspirations of the SDGs be-come real to communities, householdsand individuals, particularly to thosewho are at risk of falling behind. Localcommunities and stakeholders, whoknow individual and collective needsand capacities best, are critical partnersin implementing and realizing ourglobal accord. In Bangladesh, whileanalysing the targets and indicators itwas found that all these are not neces-sary and not equally important also.Looking into the necessity, priority andresource constrain, the Government ofBangladesh identified 40 (39+1) indi-cator in the process of localizing SDGs,particularly in the district and upazilalevel. These 39 indicators from 17goals are selected which would be cru-cial for the local level of our countrynamely poverty, both lower and highercase, stunting, arable land, infant mor-tality, under 5 mortality, maternal mor-tality, death in road accident,attainment in education in primary andsecondary level, education institutewith electricity, safe water, improvedsanitation and digital connectivity, in-clusive education, child marriage, in-volvement of women in economicactivities, water and sanitation, powerand renewable energy, GDP growth,unemployment, road connectivity, par-ticipation of industry in growth and em-ployment, ratio of highest and lowestincome, cost of planned migration, safepublic transport for women, childrenand old people, industrial waste man-agement. loss of life in natural disaster,marine resources, plantation and af-forestation, birth registration, humanrights and internet connection. Against17 SDGs, 1 to 5 indicators are taken

from each. More critical analysis showsthat I indicator from each SDG 11, 12,13 and 14; 2 indicators from each SDG1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16 and 17; 3 indica-tors from each SDG 5 and 8, 4 indica-tors from each SDG 3 and 9; andfinally, 5 indicators from SDG 4.

The rest one of 39+1, would cover‘leave no one behind’ for which, differ-ent districts or upazilas have differenttargets based on the context andground reality of that particular geo-graphical area. With the guidance ofSDG experts ‘Natore Model’ of locallevel SDG planning and implementa-tion is developed for district level anda framework is finalized for localizingSDGs at the upazila level. This modelprescribes extensive involvement ofboth District and Upa-zila officials andelected public representatives. For bet-ter understanding of SDG and preparedistrict and upa-zila plans following theNatore Model awareness programthrough workshops at the division anddistrict level have been done. It ishoped that local level people would fixthe targets and prepare correspondingaction plan to implement the SDGs in-volving all stakeholders. More overeach district has its ‘Branding’ issueslike Chandpur has, ‘Elisher Bari Chand-pur’ (Chandpur is the home of Hilsa),Jamalpur has ‘Nakshi Kantha’; alongwith localization, districts and Upazilasadd their branding with developmentand promotional activities and has op-portunity to take wholistic approach.

While identifying vulnerability andmost deprived persons irrespective ofgender the districts and sub-districtsprioritized first the homeless peopledue to river erosion; it was followed byagriculture labor, children and labor oftea garden. Common issues they iden-tified are child marriage and drugabuse. The report of Division, Districtand Upa-zila workshop reveals thatcostal area identified salinity, river ero-sion, health, drinking water and mod-ernization of fish and shrimpcultivation as most important issue toaddress. While hill districts identifiedhealth, education, afforestation,tourism and drinking water to address

on priority basis. Haor areas identifiedwater logging, early flash flood, em-bankment, dredging and skill develop-ment as important area to address. Onthe other hand, planned city, wastemanagement, technical education, pro-tect agriculture land are issues of urbanand semi urban area. Plain land identi-fied skill development, quality educa-tion, waterlogging, road safety, cropintensity, marketing of agriculture prod-ucts, river and canal dredging, ICT,water reservoir, indigenous verity offish and industry as their area of atten-tions. Other major identified area of lo-calization is inclusive education,women involvement in more eco-nomic activities, water and sanitation,internet facility, public transport, rivererosion, cottage industry, migration,nutrition, vocational education andmaternal health. This is to be kept inmind that the areas identified by thedistrict and upazila are unique in na-ture, not common.

For monitoring and implementation ofSDG government formed committee atdifferent level of administration in Di-vision, District and Upazila engaginggovernment officials, elected represen-tatives, civil society and NGO and thisensures whole of the society approach.All the Local Government bodies of ourcountry Union Parishad, Upazila andZila Parishad has allocation from thegovernment along with their own fundto implement their development planwhich in another way may call imple-mentation of SDG. This is evident thatallocation for the local governmentbodies are not enough to meet theirrevenue budget and development proj-ects. Government of Bangladeshstarted implementing District Budget;this may help to address the issues of+1 and help implementing localizationof SDG and ensuring ‘Leave no one be-hind’.

Md. Abul Kalam AzadFormer Principal Secretary andPrincipal SDG Coordinator,Prime Minister Office

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The impact of the second wave ofCovid-19 on energy prices, despitesome recovery, may persist beyond

2021 as the experts apprehended. Oilprices fell substantially during the begin-ning of COVID-19 and have only slightlyregained pre-pandemic price levels.

Agriculture prices were relatively unaf-fected by the pandemic, but the numberof people at risk of food insecurity hasrisen as a result of the broader effects ofthe global recession.

The impact of COVID-19 on energy mar-kets may continue over the next morethan a year and it will have also a blowon the expected economic boost up inthe world, a senior official of the WorldBank Group said.

"When declines in commodity prices areshort-lived, policy stimulus can buffer theirimpact. However, when prices remain de-pressed for an extended period, policymakers need to find solutions so theireconomies can adjust smoothly to a newnormal. Because of COVID-19, the newnormal for oil-exporting emerging and de-veloping economies arrived earlier. In thepost-COVID world, these countries need tobe more aggressive in implementing poli-cies to reduce their reliance on oil rev-enues,” said Ayhan Kose, World BankGroup Acting Vice President for EquitableGrowth, Finance & Institutions and Direc-tor for the Prospects Group.

Oil prices are expected to average $44per barrel in 2021, up from an estimated$41 per barrel in 2020.

Demand is expected to rise gradually andday by day that it might be a slow pace astourism and travel continue to be held backby health concerns and as global economicactivity is anticipated to return to pre-pan-demic levels only in the year after next.

Supply restraint is expected to be easedsteadily. Energy prices overall –whichalso include natural gas and coal–areexpected to rebound sizably in 2021, fol-lowing large declines in 2020, an upwardrevision from April’s forecast.

Health experts and noted economistsaround the world feel that a resurgenceof a second wave of the pandemic thatresults in more lockdowns and less con-sumption, and delays in vaccine devel-opment and distribution, could lead tolower energy prices than forecasted.

Several countries in Europe and otherparts of the World (including NorthAmerican countries mainly Canada) havealready started to introduce lock downmechanisms to contain this highly conta-gious disease and also to protect thehealth of mass people.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has alreadystopped all kinds of international flights tosubdue the rapid spread of the coron-avirus. All these new imposition of restric-tions have largely had an adverse effect onthe much expected tourism industrymeaning the demand for oil will be lower.

The economy of Thailand and more othercountries is highly dependent on tourismand now they are recounting their calcu-lation.

Metal prices are expected to post modestincreases in 2021 after falling in 2020,supported by the ongoing recovery in theglobal economy and continued stimulusfrom China. A prolonged period of weakglobal growth would lead to lower pricesthan forecast.

Agriculture prices are expected to riseslightly in 2021, following an estimated3% increase in 2020 following someshortfall in edible oil production. Con-cerns about food insecurity remain rele-vant in several emerging markets anddeveloping economies. These concernsare prompted by hits to incomes from theglobal recession, bottlenecks in foodavailability at the local level, and borderrestrictions that have constrained laborsupply. Food price inflation has spiked inseveral countries.

The pandemic is only the latest in a longhistory of shocks to commodity markets.A special focus looks at the nature ofcommodity price shocks on 27 com-

modities during 1970-2019. It finds thathighly persistent and short-lived shockshave contributed almost equally to com-modity price variation, although withwide variety across commodities. Perma-nent shocks account for most of agricul-tural commodity price variability whiletransitory shocks are more relevant in in-dustrial commodity prices. The variedduration of such shocks points to a needfor policy flexibility.

A transitory commodity price shock maycall for stimulative fiscal policy to smoothconsumption; countries that depend onexports of commodities subject to cycli-cal price swings may want to build fiscalbuffers during the boom phase and usethem in the bust period to support eco-nomic activity. In countries that relyheavily on commodities that are subjectto permanent shocks, structural policiessuch as economic diversification andbroadening the tax base may be neededto facilitate adjustments to new economicenvironments.

The World Bank Group, one of the largestsources of funding and knowledge for de-veloping countries, is taking broad andfast action to help developing countriesstrengthen their pandemic response. It issupporting public health interventions,working to ensure the flow of critical sup-plies and equipment, and helping the pri-vate sector continue to operate andsustain jobs.

The World Bank Group is making avail-able up to $160 billion over a 15-monthperiod ending June 2021 to help morethan 100 countries protect the poor andvulnerable, support businesses, and bol-ster economic recovery. This includes$50 billion of new IDA resources throughgrants and highly concessional loans and$12 billion for developing countries to fi-nance the purchase and distribution ofCOVID-19 vaccines.

Serajul Islam Quadir;The writer is the former Bureau Chief ofReuters in Bangladesh and ExecutiveEditor of the American Chambers’ Journal.

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Impact of Covid­19 on Oil Demand

to Continue Even After 2021Serajul Islam Quadir

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46

Climate

January 1, 2021

Amobile court in Narsingdirecently ordered demoli-

tion of three brick kilns andfined Tk 5 lakh each for pollut-ing environment and operat-ing without properdocuments.

Kazi Tamzeed Ahmed, execu-tive magistrate, Monitoringand Enforcement Wing of theDepartment of Environment,conducted the mobile court inRaipura and Belabo upazilasof the district with the help of

police andFire Service.

The threebrickfieldsare -FiveStar BrickField ownedby AbdulWadud of

Gauripur village in MusapurUnion under Raipura, PeragiBrick Field owned by Asaduz-zaman of Radhanagar villageunder Raipura upazila andSBA Brick Field owned byBashir Ahmed of AmlaboUnion under Belabo.

Muhammad Hafizur Rahman,deputy director of the Environ-ment Department in Narsingdi,said that they have demolishedthe brick kilns and collected Tk15 lakh as fine.

3 Brick kilns Demolished forPolluting Environment

Prime Minister SheikhHasina recently urged

the developed countries tocome up with predictableand promised mitigationmeasures along with financeto face the adversity of cli-mate change.

“I would like to concludeurging all developed coun-tries to come forward withpredictable and promisedmitigation measures alongwith climate finance,” shesaid, joining a virtual “Cli-mate Ambition Summit”marking the fifth anniversaryof the landmark Paris Agree-ment.

In a pre-recorded speechaired at the summit, the PMalso said, “Today we are ob-serving the fifth anniversaryof the historic Paris Agree-ment. Unfortunately, we arenowhere near to our goalsset under the agreement”.

The UK, UN and France co-hosted the Summit in part-nership with Chile and Italy.

The Summit started withopening addresses from UN

Secretary General AntonioGuterres, UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, French Presi-dent Emmanuel Macron,Chilean President Sebasti nPi¤era and Italian PrimeMinister Giuseppe Conte.

Sheikh Hasina said: “The re-ality is the climate change isneither going to take a breaknor it will spare us from itsadverse impact for our inac-tion.”

Despite many constraints,Bangladesh has emerged asa global leader on adapta-tion measures, she said,adding, “In this regard, Iwould like to remind every-one that there is a limit toadaptation.”

As the President of the Cli-mate Vulnerable Forum,Sheikh Hasina said, theyhave launched the CVF“Midnight Survival Dead-line for the Climate” initia-tive urging every country todeclare enhanced NDCsby the midnight on 31stDecember 2020.

PM Urges Developed Nationsto Fulfill Climate Pledges

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The growing impacts of cli-mate change have already

pushed more than 18 millionpeople to migrate withinSouth Asian countries, but thatcould more than triple ifglobal warming continues onits current path, researcherswarned on recently.

Nearly 63 million peoplecould be forced from theirhomes by 2050 in the regionas rising seas and rivers swal-low villages, and drought-hitland no longer supports crops,said ActionAid Internationaland Climate Action NetworkSouth Asia in a report.

The projection does not in-clude those who will beforced to flee sudden disasterssuch as floods and cyclonesand so is likely an under-esti-mate, noted Harjeet Singh,

global climate lead at Action-Aid. He said the situationcould become “catastrophic”.

Many will head from ruralareas to towns and cities intheir own countries, in searchof work, he said.

There they often end up livingin slum areas exposed toflooding and with very limitedaccess to social services,doing precarious jobs such asrickshaw-pulling, constructionor garment-making.

“Policy makers in the GlobalNorth and the Global Southare not yet waking up to thisreality,” Singh told the Thom-son Reuters Foundation.“They are not realizing thescale of the problem, and howwe are going to deal with (it).”

Climate Change May Create 63mMigrants in S Asia by 2050

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US President-elect JoeBiden has introduced his

climate and energy team,saying they will lead an “am-bitious plan” to combat cli-mate change.

Biden has vowed to make theissue a top priority in anagenda that reverses manyTrump administration poli-cies. He said there was “notime to waste”.

If confirmed by the Senate, theteam will include the first blackman to run the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) andthe first Native American cabi-net member. Biden, who is setto be inaugurated on 20 Janu-ary, has pledged to build a di-verse administration thatreflects the US.

“We’re in a crisis,” he said.“Just like we need to be aunified nation to respond toCovid-19, we need a unifiednational response to climatechange.”

Biden has pledged to breakaway from climate policyunder the Trump administra-tion. He says he will re-jointhe Paris climate agreementimmediately upon taking of-fice and “put America backin the business of leading theworld on climate change”.

Under President DonaldTrump, the US this year be-came the first country to for-mally withdraw from the Parisagreement, which commitscountries to working to limit

the global temperature rise.

Biden described his picks forhis new climate and energyteam as “brilliant, qualified andtested, and barrier-busting”.

Nominees include NorthCarolina’s top environmentalregulator Michael Regan,who would be the firstAfrican-American man tohead the EPA, and New Mex-ico representative Deb Haa-land who would be the firstNative American to lead theDepartment of the Interior.

Haaland hailed her nomina-tion as a “profound” momentin the history of the country.

Environmental lawyer andObama administration offi-cial Brenda Mallory wasnominated to run the Councilon Environmental Quality. Ifconfirmed, she would be thefirst African American to holdthe position.

Former Michigan GovernorJennifer Granholm was nom-inated for the position of en-ergy secretary.

Last month Biden named JohnKerry, a former secretary ofstate and one of the leading ar-chitects of the Paris agreement,as his climate envoy.

The Biden transition team saidthe position would see him“fight climate change full-time”. He is also set to be thefirst official dedicated to cli-mate change to sit on the Na-tional Security Council.

Biden Unveils Climate Team

Alocked-down pandemic-struck world cut its car-

bon dioxide emissions thisyear by 7 per cent, thebiggest drop ever, new pre-liminary figures show.

The Global Carban Project,an authoritative group ofdozens of international scien-tists who track emissions, cal-culated that the world willhave put 34 billion tonnes ofcarbon dioxide in the air in2020.

The figure is down from 36.4billion metric tonnes in 2019,according to a study pub-lished recently in the JournalsEarth System Science Data.

Scientists say this drop ismainly because people arestaying home, traveling lessby car and plane, and theemissions are expected to

jump back up after the pan-demic ends.

Ground transportation makesup about one- fifth of emis-sions of carbon dioxide, thechief man-made heat trap-ping gas.

Scientists say this drop ismainly because people arestaying home, traveling lessby car and plane, and thatemissions are expected tojump back up after the pan-demic ends. Ground trans-portation makes up aboutone-fifth of emissions of car-bon dioxide, the chief man-made heat-trapping gas.

"Of course, lockdown is ab-solutely not the way to tackleclimate change," said studyco-author Corinne LeQuere,a climate scientist at the Uni-versity of East Anglia.

Carbon Dioxide Emission Drops by7pc This Yr: Study

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World leaders should de-clare states of "climate

emergency" in their countriesto spur action to avoid cata-strophic global warming, UNSecretary-General AntonioGuterres said in opening re-marks to a climate summit re-cently.

More than 70 world leadersare due to address the one-dayvirtual gathering aimed atbuilding momentum for muchsteeper cuts in planet-warmingemissions on the fifth anniver-sary of the 2015 Paris climateaccord.

"Can anybody still deny thatwe are facing a dramatic emer-gency?" Guterres said via

video. "That is why today, I callon all leaders worldwide to de-clare a State of Climate Emer-gency in their countries untilcarbon neutrality is reached."

Guterres said that economicrecovery packages launchedin the wake of the coronaviruspandemic represented an op-portunity to accelerate thetransition to a low-carbon fu-ture - but warned this was nothappening fast enough.

"So far, the members of theG20 are spending 50% morein their stimulus and rescuepackages on sectors linked tofossil fuel production and con-sumption, than on low-carbonenergy," Guterres said.

Declare Climate Emergency, UNChief Tells World Leaders

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Bangladesh is among thosehighest electricity-deficit

countries that have made themost progress in adopting sus-tainable energy policies be-tween 2017 and 2019.

The country has also made no-table progress in ensuring itspeople's access to clean cook-ing since 2010.

RISE - Regulatory Indicators forSustainable Energy - 2020, anew World Bank report chart-ing global progress on energypolicies, reveals this informa-tion.

RISE 2020 measures policyprogress in 138 countries onrenewable energy, energy effi-ciency, electricity access, andaccess to clean cooking — thefour target areas of SustainableDevelopment Goal 7 (SDG7),which calls for achieving ac-cess to affordable, reliable, sus-tainable and modern energyfor all by 2030.

According to the report, nearlyevery country in the world sawadvancements in sustainableenergy policy between 2017and 2019 but the most rapidimprovements were in sub-Sa-haran Africa.

The report, however, says thatglobally policy progress overallis slower than in the past, par-ticularly around renewable en-ergy and energy efficiency.

The Covid-19 pandemic un-derscores the need for policiesand regulations that mitigatethe risk of global shocks whilealso boosting investments inresilient energy systems andencouraging behavioralchanges, it observes.

"At the same time, improvingsustainable energy policy sup-ports higher employment, par-ticularly around energyefficiency and distributed elec-trification."

Bangladesh Leads World in SustainableEnergy Policies in 2017-19

Asia-Pacific has faced arecord number of climate-

related disasters in 2020, affect-ing tens of millions ofvulnerable people already hithard by the COVID-19 pan-demic, the Red Cross said re-cently.

The International Federation ofRed Cross and Red Crescent So-cieties (IFRC) said it had re-sponded to 24 climate-linkedcrises this year in the world'smost disaster-prone region - upfrom 18 in 2019 - includingfloods, typhoons, extreme coldand drought.

"COVID-19 has of course ag-gravated these impacts, with ataste of the compound shockswe're expecting in a changingclimate," sad Maarten vanAalst, director of the Red Cross

Red Crescent Climate Centre.

"The pandemic has not onlycomplicated evacuations anddisaster response, but also ag-gravates the economic impactof disasters, especially for thepoorest people," he added.

Southeast Asia was the IFRC'sbusiest region in 2020, with 15emergency responses to disas-ters including severe floods,storms and landslides in thePhilippines and Vietnam that af-fected more than 31 millionpeople.

Jess Letch, the IFRC's emer-gency operations manager, saidthe challenge had been to helpcommunities with relief aidwhile also taking the stepsneeded to halt the spread ofCOVID-19.

Record Climate Disasters in Asia-Pa-cific Push Millions to ‘Breaking Point’

The European Union's flag-ship fund to wean regions

off fossil fuels will not financenatural gas projects, EU gov-ernments said recently, endinga debate over whether to makethe fuel eligible for support.

Gas emits roughly 50per centless CO2 than coal when burnedin power plants, but it is associ-ated with leaks of methane, a po-tent greenhouse gas.

Envoys from the EU's 27 mem-ber countries endorsed thedeal recently, which was struckbetween EU governments andthe European Parliament.

Under the deal, the fund can-not be used to support any in-vestments linked to fossil fuels,including natural gas. The JustTransition Fund will not backinvestments in nuclear energyeither.

Some EU countries and law-makers pushed to secure sup-port for gas. Lawmakers saidthe final deal was a trade-off,which secured a gas-free Just

Transition Fund in exchangefor letting gas projects receivea smaller amount of fundingunder certain conditions froma separate European RegionalDevelopment Fund.

The Just Transition Fund will tar-get regions dependent on most-polluting fuels, such as coal andpeat, with Poland, Germany andRomania expected to be thebiggest beneficiaries.

German Green lawmakerNiklas Nienass said he hadsupported this compromise asa way to minimise funding forfossil fuels.

"The margin to actually spendmoney on gas in the ERDF isquite small," he said.

The Just Transition Fund willhave 17.5 billion euros ($21.33billion) from both a coronavirusrecovery fund and the EU'sbudget for 2021-27. The moneyis meant to attract further privatesector cash to support green in-dustries and retrain workers frompolluting sectors.

EU Green Transition Fund Will NotSupport Natural Gas

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The Department of Environ-ment (DoE) has taken stern

action against errant enter-prises responsible for causingair pollution in the port city.

On December 20, the DoEfined a steel manufacturerand a cement manufacturingcompany for polluting the air.

DoE Director (ChittagongMetro) Mohammad NurullahNoori slapped the fine follow-ing a hearing at his office re-cently.

Of them, Modern Steel MillsLtd of Nasirabad IndustrialArea was fined Tk 9 lakhwhile NGS Cement IndustriesLtd of North Patenga area wasfined Tk 4 lakh.

The Suspended ParticulateMatters (SPMs) of the two busi-nesses were tested at the DoElaboratory on November 22and November 24 of this year.

The lab tests revealed that theSPMs were far beyond the pa-rameter set by EnvironmentConservation Rules, 1997(Amended 2005).

The errant businesses wereasked to modernize their re-spective Air Treatment Plant(ATP).

On November 30, a steelmanufacturing companyidentified as Saleh Steel Ltd ofNasirabad Industrial Area wasfined Tk 10 lakh for pollutingair.

DoE Goes Tough on Air Polluters in Ctg

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Amid a government move to ad-minister the price of Liquefied Pe-troleum Gas (LPG) due to

widespread allegations of price manipu-lation of the cooking fuel, LPG Operators’Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) Presi-dent Azam J. Chowdhury said they arenot against automatic price formulation,but against fixing any arbitrary price. Healso said that the government shouldcarefully examine the applications fornew licenses as the market is alreadyoversaturated with so many operators,creating unhealthy competition.

Mr. Chowdhury shared his thought in anexclusive interview with Energy & PowerEditor Mollah Amzad Hossain.

Bangladesh is celebrating its goldenjubilee as an independent country.You, as one of the undisputed pio-neers in the energy and power sector,what is your evaluation about theprogress and predicaments of thissector?

The progress we have achieved in powergeneration the same could not be made inthe downstream of oil and gas sector. ThePetroleum Act and Ordinances were notamended to allow private sector to buildcapacity along with the public enterprises.Unbundling of regulation is the key tohuge investment potential in this sector.

Despite the constraints, the private sectorhas made reasonable investment in pe-troleum infrastructure in product termi-nal, lube oil blending, bitumen, LP Gasinfrastructure and manufacturing oftransformer oil, grease and even addi-tives including large oil tankers. Some ofthe key petroleum installations are nowmanaged by the private sector.

You have a long history of represent-ing major international power gener-ation companies which have come toBangladesh. We would like to knowwhy you did not enter the power sec-

tor yourself as an independent powerproducer. Do you have any suchplan in the future?

Although I worked for development ofpower plants in Bangladesh with majorbuilders of power plants but my passionfor hydrocarbon led me to undertakebusiness in downstream sector.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation(BPC) started marketing LPG on alimited scale in late 1970s. In the late1990s, the private sector operatorsbegan setting up bottling plants andmarketing LPG. Although East CoastGroup’s Omera was a late entrant, ithas managed to become the 2ndlargest domestic player. What werethe reasons behind Omera’s successand what future plans does the com-pany have?

We were using natural gas like rain wateras if it was harvested free of cost. WhenBangladesh realized that we should notburn our multivalued natural gas, we de-cided to invest heavily in the wholevalue chain right from terminal to num-ber of bottling plants, first ever we startedoperation by LPG barges, world class fa-cilities including Cylinders manufactur-ing plants. We concentrated on quality,safety and high standard that promptlyreceived the brand by consumers.

We have a distribution network which isable to reach customer promptly, and re-plenish the stocks. The company uses lotof automation both in process as well asin distribution.

As the president of LPG Operators’Association of Bangladesh (LOAB),what is your view about the concernsthat the market is oversaturated al-ready? There are some 22 operatorsand more are expected to come.Given the small size of the domesticmarket, what are your suggestions forway forward?

In a competitive market, it is very naturalthat there will be lot of players but we aremissing our point. Regardless of the mar-ket, small or large, investors cannot sus-tain by making supply to a small pocketmarket. This sector requires continuousinvestment. We have been investingsince we started 5 years ago. In big mar-kets, there are only 4-5 operators. InIndia, it has 3-4 operators being a verylarge market. Government should havecarefully examined the proposal forgranting license.

When the supply exceeds demand,malpractices thrive. Operators havebeen forced to engage in a price war.However, distributors / dealers areeating up the lion’s share of profits

Azam J. Chowdhury

Large companies took permission forsetting up Autogas stations, but couldnot yet install 20% percent of the per­

mission obtained so far. There are lot oftechnical and operational issues to be

resolved before we are able to set up thestations. You need safety distance as perregulation and, in many cases, an exist­

ing station does meet such criteria.

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LOAB Against Arbitrary Pricing,Not A Fixing Formula

that is benefitting neither producersnor consumers. In many countries, thestandard practice is to appoint exclu-sive distributors / dealers which han-dle only one brand. What is youropinion about this practice and shouldit be introduced in Bangladesh?

The market for LPG is new and it requiresstability and correction. By now most op-erators sell 40-50% of their productsthrough exclusive distributors. Neitherthe cartel nor the predatory price helpeddevelop the market. We have more than25 operators but only 5 support around85% of the market. A fair price is deter-mined based on import variable costalong with other fixed cost depending onsupply and demand. In Bangladesh nonehas yet full infrastructure and further pol-icy support when granted will widen themarket. It will be difficult for so many op-erators to sustain.

Latest LPG policy dictates that everyoperator must have storage capacity of5,000 metric tonnes. Allegations havesurfaced from smaller operators thatthis clause has been incorporated togive preferential treatment to big play-ers. How do you view this situation?

The condition to raise basic storage ca-pacity to 5,000 tonnes was set by policy-makers to help the operators raiseinvestment against infrastructure to beable to meet demand for products. Thegovernment has given 2 years of addi-tional time to expand. It has been morethan 4-5 years until now, lot of operatorscould not meet the deadline to raise thecapacity. They are still in business. No-body is creating any problem for them toclose the shop. Oil and gas business iscapital intensive, and you cannot expectto support entire Bangladesh market bydoing anything below 5,000 tonnes.

Autogas has created a new market inthe transport sector. However, thegovernment has given chunk permis-sion to major players, who are nowallegedly giving out franchise tosmaller parties. The major complainthere is that policymakers are givingundue advantage to big operators.Do you believe that this is creatingan unhealthy atmosphere?It is not true. The government is not re-fusing permission whoever wants to in-stall Autogas. Even large companies tookpermission but could not install 20% per-

cent of the permission obtained. Thereare lot of technical and operational is-sues to be resolved before we are able toset up an Autogas station. You needsafety distance as per regulation and, inmany cases, an existing station doesmeet such criteria.

CNG market remains established asan alternative fuel for transportation.In view of the fact that the govern-ment has decided to continue withCNG stations even after LNG import,how realistic are the prospects for Au-togas to become a price competitivesolution vis-à-vis CNG for vehicles?At our association, LPG has higher en-ergy content at 93.2/MJ/m3 compared tonatural gas at 38.7/MJ/m3. LPG is lique-fied through pressurization vs natural gasis cryogenically turned liquefied. It iseasy to transport and has higher mileagecompared to other forms of energy.

Various authorities including theministry, BPC, BERC and DoE are allinvolved in the regulation of LPG andlube oil. This results in operatorshaving to obtain multiple permis-sions from different bodies which isa hassle. Would it not be simpler tohave one regulator responsible forboth these products? What are yourthoughts on this matter?

There is only one theory to succeed indealing with hydrocarbon is to ensuresafety and security of supply. A singleregulator which will ensure all privateand public enterprises to compete in thelevel playing ground. We are followingreverse policy. We have duplication offees and heavy license renewal charges.BPC is an operator but regulating this in-dustry as well. Petroleum Act 1974 andBPC Ordinances need to be unbundled.

The LPG policy states that the gov-ernment will fix price. In line withthat BERC has recently sent a draftpricing formula to the ministry.Given that more than 99 percent ofLPG is imported and pricing dependson international contract price, doyou think this formula will be realis-tic? How should prices be fixed inyour opinion?

Everywhere in the world the petroleumprices are determined based on supplyand demand taking into consideration ofvariable price and fixed cost. Once youare able to determine a base price then

you can adjust base price depending onescalation and de-escalation of prices inthe international market. We are notagainst an automatic price formulationbut we are against fixing an arbitraryprice which may cause damages to op-erators as well as our valued customers.

There was a time when the local lu-bricant market was entirely domi-nated by international brands. Youbroke the mold by successfully bring-ing Mobil brand into Bangladeshthrough Mobil-Jamuna joint venture,which today has the lion’s share ofthe domestic market. What plans doyou have for expansion into the in-ternational market with Mobil-Ja-muna’s lube products?

Building of a state-of-the-art lube oil blendingplant with the world’s largest oil company wasnot an easy task but by the grace of almightyAllah, we were able to set up the best plant inSouth East Asia. In yearly rating, we remainhighest scorer in the global rating. We meetthe major demand of premiere grade lubri-cants in Bangladesh market. We also supportregional markets. We need government sup-port for approval of investment in internationalmarket. Foreign exchange regulations need tobe relaxed for entrepreneurs wishing to investin overseas market.

A major problem with the domesticlube market is low quality and adulter-ation. This is causing huge loss for bothindustry and transport sectors. Whatmonitoring mechanisms need to be putin place to standardize the market?

The Ministry of Energy needs to providelube oil policy and its strong enforce-ment to prevent entry of fake and adul-terated lubricants to Bangladesh. It is notdifficult to pursue action against viola-tors. Sixty percent of our market is dom-inated by low quality lubricants. Wemust have a policy of standardizationprior to its entry to Bangladesh market.We are now migrating to a developingeconomy and its performance greatly de-pend on qualitative performance oncompetitive basis. Lubrication solution ofour industry and all other segments willplay an important role in our echo-friendly organic growth. Bangladesh isnow able to buy only 500 ppm sulfurcontent diesel in support of environment.We have to just take required steps whilemaking regulatory and fiscal policy forlubricant too.

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