Category: Energy and Power

Mahmud Hasan, founder and chairman of Dipon Group, a leading company in Bangladesh’s energy sector, died recently while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital.

He was 82.

Dipon Group confi rmed his death.

He passed away at Continental Hospital in Dhaka.

His death is being mourned as a major loss for Dipon Group as well as Bangladesh’s wider business community.

Colleagues and business leaders expressed condolences to his bereaved family and prayed for the forgiveness of his sins and the acceptance of his good deeds.

They also prayed that Almighty Allah grant him eternal peace in Jannah and give his family and all those mourning his death the strength and patience to bear the loss.

The Rooppur N u c l e a r Power Plant is expected to supply its fi rst 300MW of electricity to Bangladeshs national grid by October, Russian Ambassador Alexander Khozin said recently.

Around 4,000 Russian specialists and engineers are working at the project to resolve outstanding technical issues and expedite preparations for initial power generation, he said at a meeting with Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Administrator Md Fazlul Hoque.

The ambassador also said the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry is interested in establishing a joint Russia-Bangladesh Business Council.

A Russia-Bangladesh Business Forum is also planned in Moscow to facilitate direct businessto-business contacts, with a formal announcement potentially coming at an intergovernmental commission meeting in Dhaka in early November.

India has approved Nepal’s import of up to 654 MW of electricity for 18 hours a day through the end of December, but approvals for several Nepalese hydropower projects to export electricity remain pending, leaving power supplies to Bangladesh uncertain.

India’s Ministry of Power approved supplies from Sept.

13 to Dec.31, with up to 600 MW through the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar line and 54 MW through the Tanakpur-Mahendranagar line.

The allocation for January 2027 will be reviewed in December.

Nepal is currently exporting around 600 MW a day to India, but export permits for the 38.8-MW Upper Chameliya, 24.25-MW Seti River and 10.7-MW Upper Tadi Khola projects have expired and have not yet been renewed.

Flood damage has also reduced Nepal’s available generation capacity.

Electricity exports to Bangladesh have been suspended after fl oods damaged the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower projects that supplied the 40-MW bilateral arrangement.

ONE Bank PLC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BYD Bangladesh to provide convenient fi nancing options for customers purchasing new energy vehicles (NEVs).

Under the agreement, ONE Bank will offer competitive interest rates and faster loan-processing facilities for customers buying BYD vehicles, aiming to make EV fi nancing more accessible and support the adoption of cleaner mobility in Bangladesh.

The MoU was signed by BYD Bangladesh Managing Director Amid Sakif Khan and ONE Bank Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Banking Mohammad Shahid Ul Haque.

Senior offi cials from both organisations attended the signing ceremony.

BYD entered Bangladesh’s automobile market in 2024 through its authorised distributor and offers electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles along with sales and after-sales services

UN Climate Change has unveiled a new strategy for its Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA) initiative, seeking to use storytelling and the creative industries to strengthen public engagement on climate action.

The strategy, launched during Climate Week NYC, follows consultations with ECCA members and is built around a new ECCA Declaration aligned with Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, which calls for educating, empowering and engaging the public on climate action.

ECCA will focus on three functions: convening a global community of practice, connecting cultural sectors with the Paris process, and highlighting climate storytelling and decarbonization efforts.

Initial workstreams will cover fi lm and television, music and visual arts, with others to follow.

A Steering Committee and annual workplans will guide implementation beginning at COP31.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said climate action needed imagination as well as policy, investment and technology, noting that creative and cultural sectors can reach audiences in ways that formal climate negotiations cannot.

The strategy also advances ECCA’s Accelerator City initiative.

Liverpool, the fi rst Accelerator City, piloted nine decarbonization projects in live music and screen production.

Criteria for selecting the next Accelerator City or cities will be announced at COP31 in Trkiye in November, with applications to follow.

The strategy sets a vision through 2030.

The government has approved the import of refi ned petroleum products worth Tk12,537.49 crore from China and Indonesia under governmentto-government (G2G) arrangements for September-December 2026.

The fuel will be procured from China’s Unipec and PetroChina and Indonesia’s BSP.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the proposal at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury recently.

Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave in-principle approval for the tenderfree import of an additional 695,000 tonnes of gas oil and jet fuel for the same period.

The government also approved one additional LNG cargo from QatarEnergy Trading LLC for delivery by November 10 under the existing long-term agreement.

The cargo will be priced at JKM minus $0.02 per MMBtu.

India added 8.2 GWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity in the fi rst half of 2026, a dramatic increase from just 98.4 MWh installed during the same period last year, according to Mercom India Research.

Installations reached 3.6 GWh in the second quarter, down 22% from the record fi rst-quarter additions.

Standalone battery projects accounted for nearly 98% of quarterly installations and 83% of cumulative installed capacity, indicating a rapid shift toward dedicated grid-scale storage.

Rajasthan accounted for the largest share of cumulative installed BESS capacity at 36%, followed by Gujarat at 20% and Maharashtra at 5%.

The report also highlighted a gap between planned and awarded projects.

India issued tenders for about 28 GW of storage capacity in the fi rst half, while only around 9 GW was auctioned, down 18% year on year.

Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu said rising solar generation, increased curtailment and growing evening electricity demand are driving stronger demand for storage.

Bangladesh has approved the purchase of six LNG cargoes, including one at $29.795 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), as the government moves to secure gas supplies amid a sharp rise in international LNG prices.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved two cargoes through international quotations at $28.95 and $29.795 per MMBtu.

UKbased TotalEnergies Gas and Power will supply the former, while Singapore-based Vitol Asia will supply the latter.

Four additional cargoes will be procured through direct purchases-two from USbased D’ARAB Inc.

at $17 per MMBtu and two from Mind Mingle LLC at $19 per MMBtu.

The latest spot-market price is signifi cantly higher than recent procurement costs.

Bangladesh approved LNG purchases at $28.03 per MMBtu on Sept.

2, $24.63 on Aug.

24 and $23.93 a week earlier.

Before the recent Middle East confl ict, LNG was available at around $10 per MMBtu

Lawmakers, fi sheries experts and environmental activists have called for reducing dependence on fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy to protect fi sheries, aquatic biodiversity and coastal livelihoods.

The call came at a discussion titled ‘Renewables Now to Protect Fisheries’ at the National Press Club in Dhaka, organized under the Renewables Now campaign by Dhoritri Rokhhay Amra (DHORA), Dream Research and Development Foundation (DRDF), Sundarban and Coastal Protection Movement and 34 other organizations.

Speakers said ash, heated water and pollutants from coal-fi red power plants can affect river water quality, dissolved oxygen and fi sh survival.

They urged environmental impact assessments of fossil-fuel-based power plants in and around fi sh sanctuaries and breeding grounds, along with a planned transition to solar and other renewable technologies.

Engineer Md Ashraf Uddin Bokul, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Defence, said duty and VAT exemptions had been provided for renewable energy equipment as part of efforts to meet at least 20% of electricity demand from renewables by 2030.

The government has approved the import of refi ned petroleum products worth Tk12,537.49 crore from China and Indonesia under governmentto-government (G2G) arrangements for September-December 2026.

The fuel will be procured from China’s Unipec and PetroChina and Indonesia’s BSP.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the proposal at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury recently.

Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave in-principle approval for the tenderfree import of an additional 695,000 tonnes of gas oil and jet fuel for the same period.

The government also approved one additional LNG cargo from QatarEnergy Trading LLC for delivery by November 10 under the existing long-term agreement.

The cargo will be priced at JKM minus $0.02 per MMBtu.