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WB approves $500m to help Bangladesh modernise electricity supply system

Staff Correspondent
22 Dec 2021 15:49:57 | Update: 22 Dec 2021 19:21:30
WB approves $500m to help Bangladesh modernise electricity supply system
— Rajib Dhar

The World Bank on Tuesday approved $500 million to help Bangladesh expand and modernise the electricity distribution system and support the sustainable transformation of its electricity system.

The Electricity Distribution Modernization Program will deliver improved electricity services to about 40 million people in Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions, a press release said on Wednesday.

It will upgrade and construct more than 31,000km of distribution lines, 157 distribution substations, and related infrastructure, and incorporate measures to increase climate resilience of network infrastructure in 25 rural electric cooperatives in the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board.

Network investment will be paired with new and advanced technologies to help modernising and transforming the electricity system.

“In the last decade, Bangladesh achieved a more than fourfold increase in electricity generation capacity and delivered electricity connections to more than 99 per cent of its population. But the electricity distribution network could not keep pace with the remarkable increase in electricity generation,” said Dandan Chen, World Bank acting country director for Bangladesh.

“This program will help modernize and ensure climate resilience of the distribution network, which is the backbone of a secure and reliable power system.”

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