{"id":20117383,"date":"2023-06-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=117383"},"modified":"2023-06-26T11:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T05:51:30","slug":"fossil-fuel-imports-prove-costly-for-bangladesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/fossil-fuel-imports-prove-costly-for-bangladesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Fossil fuel imports prove costly for Bangladesh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated the Payra coal-fired power plant<\/a> on 1 March 2022, she declared that 100% of the country\u2019s population now had electricity, outstripping its south Asian neighbours. She could not have known that 17 months later, the plant would have to close down<\/a> temporarily due to coal shortages, as Bangladesh struggled with the high cost of imported fossil fuels \u2013 primarily natural gas, but also coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best performing economies in South Asia, Bangladesh\u2019s energy vulnerability has largely been blamed on Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a>, but its roots go deeper. Bangladesh\u2019s impressive growth has been powered by the expansion of its electricity supply, increasingly based on imported fossil fuels. Between 1991 and 2020, access to electricity grew from 14% of the population to 96%, and per capita GDP rose from 283 US dollars to USD 2,233.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural gas has been the dominant fuel source for electricity production in Bangladesh. However, as far back as 2014, Petrobangla \u2013 the state-owned oil and gas supplier \u2013 noted in its annual report<\/a> that a shortfall was emerging: \u201cDemand for gas in the country has already surpassed about 3,200 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) whereas the average supply of gas is around 2,700 MMCFD, leaving a shortfall of about 500 MMCFD.\u201d The gap has only increased since, leading to greater reliance on coal and imported natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n