State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Thursday told parliament that the demand for electricity may rise to about 17,500 megawatts (MW) in the coming summer.
He, however, said that the currently total power generation capacity is 29,727MW, including that from captive and off-grid renewable energy, reports UNB.
“And the grid-based production capacity is 26,504MW. Among them, natural gas-based production capacity is 11,350MW (43 per cent), furnace oil-based 6,492MW (24 per cent), diesel-based 826MW (3 per cent), coal-based 4,491MW (17 per cent), hydro 230MW (1 per cent), solar power (grid) 459MW (2 per cent) and imported electricity is 2,656MW (10 per cent),” he said.
The state minister shared the data in the House while responding to a written question of Awami League lawmaker M Abdul Latif.
In FY2022-23, he said against the demand of electricity during summer, the generation on April 19 was 15,648MW in the peak hours.
Due to reduced demand of electricity in winter, the maximum production of electricity this year has come down to 10,000MW from 12,000MW.
The state minister on Thursday also told parliament that the return from the battery-run auto-rickshaws is manifold compared to the electricity they use.
“I call these four million three-wheelers as the Tesla of Bangla. They are using their own creativity to build these. We are not stopping them,” he said in reference to American electric carmaker Tesla, while responding to a supplementary question from ruling party MP Shamim Osman.
“It may have mechanical faults. The return is much higher compared to the electricity that they are using. About four million rickshaw-pullers, who are using electricity, are earning” he said.
He said the government is trying to move from lead batteries to lithium batteries. “We are working on a project regarding this matter. We will supply them with lithium batteries and take away the lead batteries.”
Osman in his supplementary question said that the battery-operated auto-rickshaws are running and they are very dangerous and should not be allowed to run.
He said that these auto-rickshaws steal 90 per cent of its electricity for charging batteries. “They are consuming 700-800MW of our electricity. Have you taken any special initiative to stop them all over the country?"
In reply, Nasrul said that there is a revolution going on now all over the world on how quickly the transport system can be transformed to electric vehicles.
He mentioned that the efficiency of an oil-powered car is 20 per cent. On the other hand, the efficiency level of the electricity-run engine is 80 per cent. “Basically we encourage electric cars to come to market as fast as possible.”
He mentioned that if it takes Tk 100 to go a distance in an oil-powered vehicle, it will take Tk 20 to go that distance in an electricity-run vehicle.
“There are over four million vehicles in Bangladesh that use lead batteries. It takes seven/eight hours to charge them. If there are lithium batteries, it will take only half-an-hour,” he said.
The state minister said that the Power Division has made a policy to set up electric vehicle charging stations. According to this policy, anyone can make a charge station.
He said that public transports (buses) in Bangladesh should be transformed into electricity-run quickly. “It will be cheaper and environment-friendly,” he said.
Hamid said that Bangladesh's transport sector emits 18 per cent of carbon.
However, he said, there is concern about the illegal use of electricity. “We are concerned about it. Electricity companies are keeping an eye on whether illegal electricity is being used anywhere. Most are now using meters instead of taking electricity illegally.”
