Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has said the country would witness reliable power supplies in different sectors by 2021.
He said: “The government will ensure reliable power supplies within 2021 in order to support growth and improve living standards. “The country will generate 24,000MW of electricity by the year of 2021 and supply power to different industries by creating separate zones.”
He made the statement while inaugurating a two-day workshop on leadership in the country’s power and energy sector begins at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka on Friday.
Organised by the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, the workshop will focus on improving leadership skills in the sector to ensure energy security.
Mentioning that Bangladesh needs reliable power supplies to support industrial growth, which will not be possible if energy supplies remain under-invested and unreliable, he said: “The foreign donors always advice us to increase the price of electricity and gas and use the additional money for the development of our industries.”
“But, in the context of Bangladesh, full implementation of such recommendations is not possible.”
Regarding sustainable power supply, he said: “Sustainable power and energy supplies are a matter of inconstancy. To sustainably end the curse of load shedding, the economy needs higher energy prices to ensure more funds are invested in stable energy supplies.”
Emphasising on further development of the sector, Tawfiq-e-Elahi said: “The power and energy sector leaders will have to work independently, ignoring the bureaucrat pressure.”
“The officials of energy sector should directly be involved in activities like power production, supply and distribution.”
The ministry has organised this workshop to improve the skills, efficiency and management capabilities of energy and power officials, said Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, additional secretary at the Power Division and convener of the workshop organising committee.
“We have been organising such workshop every year for the past few years to openly discuss issues that occur during the implementation of various projects in this sector, as well as find solutions to those issues,” he told the Dhaka Tribune Thursday.
More than 30 government entities in power and energy sector are attending the workshop this year.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
