energy-power
JICA to hold stakeholders meeting for energy-power master plan
The first ever stakeholders’ meeting on formulation of an integrated energy and power sector master plan is set to take place in a city hotel on Tuesday.
According to official sources, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is holding the meeting to understand the current state of the sector and take opinion of different entities on framing the future plan.
They said JICA, which is funding the entire project through its grant under a deal with the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources (MPEMR) will complete the formulation of the integrated energy and power master plan by December 2022 under a 30-month completion contract.
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Tokyo-based consulting firm Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), which has been appointed consultant for the project, has already started work following an agreement the Bangladesh government signed with JICA on March 15 this year in this regard.
The JICA official website said the integrated energy and power master plan’s major focus will be on the "3E+S" concept.
“We’ll pursue the "3E+S" concept of ensuring "Energy Security," "Economic Efficiency," and "Environment" while focusing on "Safety," said the JICA, adding, “In view of the need for a long-term low-carbon energy policy, we will support the formulation of the integrated energy and power master plan.”
Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury will inaugurate the first session of the meeting while State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid will address at the concluding session of the function.
Earlier, JICA had provided financial and technical support for formulating all the previous power system master plans (PSMPs) until 2016.
According to official sources at the MPEMR, for decades, Bangladesh had prepared two separate master plans—one for the energy sector and another for power sector—where there had been many missing links and lack of coordination resulting in imbalance between the energy and power sector’s growth.
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"But for the first time, we’re going to formulate an integrated master plan putting equal emphasis on development of both the sectors in order to support the current robust economic growth,” said Mohammad Hossain, Director General of Power Cell.
In the existing power system master plan (PSMP) 2016, about 60,000 MW of power generation was targeted by 2041 in which primary fuel mix set at 70 per cent coming from coal and gas while the remaining 30 per cent will be covered by liquid fuel, renewable, nuclear and other sources.
Currently, the country's power generation capacity is over 21,000 MW, of which about 50 per cent of power is being generated from gas while less than 10 per cent is from coal. About 30 per cent of power is generated from imported liquid fuel.