‘Use of electricity at day time may be stopped if necessary’

Staff Reporter :
Prime Minister’s Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has said that use of electricity at day time may be stopped if necessary.
“The condition of our foreign exchange reserve is not good and we do not know what will happen next. Use of electricity at day time may be stopped in case of necessity,” he said this while speaking at the event “Mitigation of the Impact of Energy Crisis on the Industrial Sector” organised by Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) on Sunday.
“We are not bringing LNG at this moment. We don’t know if there is a condition to buy at least six months to meet the demand if we import LNG at 25 dollars at this time. We now have no choice but to be economical,” he said.
He also said that 80 million cubic feet of gas will be extracted from the Bhola gas field and added to the national grid daily within the next two to three months.
Responding to the demands of businessmen in favor of importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market even at increased prices, Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said, “If we import 200 mmcf of gas for the next six months at the current spot market rate, it will cost about $1.2 billion more than long-term LNG. But the government is not in a position to invest right now. None of us knows in which direction the global situation will go. So everyone should be prepared.”
He also said that some coal-based power plants will come into production by next December.
“Then we can reduce the gas supply for electricity generation and give some gas for industrial use. If the situation does not improve after this, then we might have to refrain from using any electricity at day time if necessary,” PM’s energy adviser further said.
 “We are moving towards coal-based power generation. We will get 1000 MW of coal-based electricity in January-February. Another 1000 megawatts
will be produced through solar panels. Then we will able to solve many problems,” Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said.
There is a demand of 5-6,000 megawatts of electricity to run air-conditioned in the country, he said adding that it would be possible to save 2-3,000 megawatts of electricity if air-conditioned are kept off .
He further said that the government will try to provide more electricity to agriculture and industry sectors and others will reduce electricity consumption if necessary.
“We had nothing during the war of liberation. We will take an oath, if necessary, we will not use any electricity at day time,” Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said.
The government would have made some decisions if they get some idea about the future of when the Ukraine-Russia war will over, he said.