Awami League govt increased power generation to 14,077 MW

They said load-shedding was almost an everyday phenomenon years ago to the utter sufferings of people across Bangladesh, but today electricity failure is seldom seen anywhere in both urban and rural areas. The Director General of Power Cell under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said sincere efforts and timely initiatives along with relentless monitoring helped a lot to get rid of load- shedding.

The government has already provided power connection to around 30 million (3 core) people through expanding 42,000 kms new line and capacity enhancement by 1,798 megawatt (MW) in the last two years (2014 to 2015), DG of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain said.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that the power generation capacity reached 14,077 MW from 3,268MW in 2009 with around 74 per cent of the population having access to electricity. The state minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government achieved a tremendous success in the power sector during her last and present tenures as she gave top priority to its importance in the overall development of the country.

"We have successfully constructed 11 power plants having generation capacity of 1,798 MW, of which four are state-run, while 7 are under the private sector," State Minister Nasrul Hamid said. DG of Power Cell, Mohammad Hossain said the government set a target to generate 24,000 MW electricity by using 53 per cent coal as primary energy source within the Vision 2021. With this end in view, he said, the government increased the number of power plants, transmission lines and distribution lines for rapid economic growth to help Bangladesh become a middle income country by 2021.

According to Mohammad Hossain, the government constructed 77 power plants with generation capacity of 6,306 MW from 2009 to 2015. A total of 6,806 MW electricity was added to the national grid including 500 MW imported power from India during the period. Besides, the government signed agreements to construct 77 power plants with capacity of 11,408 MW both in public and private sectors, of which 52 plants with capacity of 5,287 MW joined operational activities, while the rest 25 plants having capacity of 6,082 MW are under construction.