Bangladesh continues in pre-construction and construction phases of gas-fired capacity development although it is exceeding double its operating capacity, according to a latest survey by Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
The survey said Bangladesh leads in South Asia with over 23.6GW of gas-fired capacity in development, which is more than double the current operating capacity of 10.8GW in the region.
South Asia has over 34GW of gas-fired capacity in development, at an estimated cost of $29 billion.
“If built, this will increase the 52.3GW of existing gas-fired capacity in South Asia by 65 per cent,” said GEM, the US-based non-governmental organisation which catalogues fossil fuel and renewable energy projects worldwide.
According to the survey, a boom in gas power plant development is now larger on a capacity basis than the build-out of new coal capacity.
Building all the gas plants currently in pre-construction or construction phases would add more than 615GW of gas-fired capacity into the world, at an estimated cost of nearly $509 billion in capital expenditure and lock in decades of emissions. By comparison, there is 456GW of coal plant capacity in development globally.
Even as Bangladesh’s existing gas-fired power plants often sit largely idle, operating at 40 per cent capacity between 2019 and 2020, there continues to be planned future gas expansion, the survey said.
A recent analysis from IEEFA, which looked at proposed LNG-to-power projects in seven countries, estimated that 61 per cent of gas-fired capacity will not be built due to “unfavorable fundamental project and country-level factors.”
The global gas plant build-out is abundant, with the leading five countries constituting 39 per cent of new global gas-fired capacity in development, and the top 20 countries making up 75 per cent. In comparison, the top five countries represent 82 per cent of new coal-fired capacity in development globally.
Study shows that gas power plants currently in pre-construction will cost an estimated $380 billion and increase global gas-fired capacity by an additional 454GW.
Under construction gas power plants worldwide will cost an estimated $128 billion and raise global gas-fired capacity by nearly 161GW. Hence, the 615GW of gas-fired power plants in development surpasses the 457GW of coal power plants currently in development.
