Category: Energy and Power

Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) recently elected special correspondent of the Financial Express M Azizur Rahman Ripon as its new chairman and chief reporter of barta24.com Serajul Islam Shiraj as executive director.

a Forum statement said the election was held in FERB’s biennial general meeting at Bidyut Bhaban which was presided over the by its outgoing chairman Shamim Jahangir.

a total of 40 members cast their votes to elect ninemember executive committee for the next two years.

the other elected members of the executive committee are: vice chairman elected senior reporter of Daily Kalbela Hasan Azad (27 votes), Director (Development and Finance) special correspondent of Charcha Fazle Rabbi (20 votes), Director (Research and Training) of Daily Banikabarta Deputy Chief Reporter Abu Taher (21 votes), Director (Data Bank) of Daily Kaler Kantho Senior Reporter Sajeeb Ahmed, Director (Entertainment and Welfare) of Daily Ajker Patrika Senior Reporter Atiqur Rahman Faisal (26 votes), members Senior Reporter of Deshkal News Jannatul Ferdousi Shobha and Senior Reporter of Daily Ittefaq Mahbub Rony.

Libya granted oil exploration and production licences recently to several foreign energy companies, including giants Chevron and BP, for the ?rst time since the fall of longtime leader Muammar Gadda?.

the North African country’s oil industry has faced signi?cant challenges following the NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed Gadda? in 2011, and its territory is still divided between rival authorities. But with energy production and exports at their strongest since then, Libya is seeking to draw major global energy companies. In addition to Chevron, Wednesday’s winners of the latest bidding round included Africa’s largest privately-owned energy company, Nigeria’s Aiteo.

the other winning bidders were consortiums: Spain’s Repsol with BP, Eni North Africa with QatarEnergy, and Repsol with Hungary’s MOLGroup and Turkiye Petrolleri.

Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud recently said the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) has faced delays mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent implementation challenges but its overall cost has not increased in dollar terms.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the cost hike proposal at a meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in the Planning Commission, chaired by Chief Adviser and ECNEC Chairperson Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.

As per the new proposal the project cost hiked by Tk 25,592.85 crore.

Addressing concerns over rising project costs, the Planning Adviser said the apparent increase in cost is largely due to exchange rate fl uctuations, as most of the project components are imported from Russia.

Bangladesh has already made repayments in dollars over time, and the taka value was calculated based on the exchange rates prevailing at the time of those payments, he added. Dr Wahiduddin said Rooppur, with an estimated cost of around US$10-11 billion (approximately Tk 1.13 lakh crore), was originally scheduled for completion by December, 2025.

Japan switched on the world’s biggest nuclear power plant again on Monday, its operator said, after an earlier attempt was quickly suspended due to a minor glitch.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the Niigata region restarted at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said in a statement.

A glitch with an alarm in January forced the suspension of its fi rst restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The facility had been offl ine since Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown.

But now Japan is turning to atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artifi cial intelligence.

The government has reduced the prices of diesel, octane, petrol, and kerosene by Tk 2 per liter for February 2026 following price trends in the international market. Under the revised rates, diesel will now sell at Tk 100 per liter, down from Tk 102; octane at Tk 120, down from Tk 122; petrol at Tk 116, down from Tk 118; and kerosene at Tk 112, down from Tk 114.

The new prices take effect from February 1, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said in a media statement recently.

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) hosted a stakeholder consultation meeting with a visiting delegation from the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) recently to discuss renewable energy, energy effi ciency technologies, and Bangladesh’s climate action mechanisms.

The consultation brought together senior offi cials from IDCOL, representatives of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), industry owners, EPC contractors, engineers, and sector experts, says a press statement. Discussions focused on existing renewable energy and energy effi ciency technologies, fi nancing mechanisms supporting climate mitigation projects, market experiences, and opportunities for future collaboration and technology exchange.

Technology group Wärtsilä will invest approximately EUR 140 million to further expand its production capacity by 35% at its technology centre, Sustainable Technology Hub (STH) in Vaasa, Finland and associated global supply chain.

This expansion will increase Wärtsilä’s industrial capacity and strengthen the capacity of the associated global supply chain, positioning Wärtsilä to meet growing market demand in energy and marine.

The expanded capacity will enable Wärtsilä to deliver a higher volume of engines, and better support both customer needs and continued business growth long-term.

The new production capacity will be installed within the STH facility expansion announced in April 2025 and is expected to be commissioned in the fi rst quarter of 2028.

Planned or underconstruction solar and wind projects slowed last year, analysis showed Tuesday, casting doubts on whether countries will hit a goal of tripling renewable capacity by decade-end. Dozens of nations agreed in 2023 to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to limit global warming.

But announcements and construction starts of new wind and solar projects grew 11 percent in 2025 -down from 22 percent in the previous year, as wind development projects faced hurdles, Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said. ‘Wind developers experienced political barriers and a streak of failed wind power auctions in wealthy nations,’ GEM research analyst Diren Kocakusak said.

V e n e z u e l a ‘ s interim president Delcy Rodriguez recently forecast a $1.4 billion bonanza from planned reforms to the oil sector aimed at drawing in foreign investors following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro.

Rodriguez projected oil investments would rise 55 percent over 2025 after a bill ending decades of tight state control on the energy sector is adopted by parliament. ‘Last year, investment came to nearly $900 million and for this year, $1.4 billion in investments have been signed,’ claimed Rodriguez, who succeeded Maduro after his January 3 overthrow by US special forces.

Rodriguez was addressing a business audience as part of public consultations on plans to throw open the oil sector to private investment. ‘We must go from the country with the planet’s biggest (proven) reserves of oil to a giant in production terms,’ Rodriguez argued.

Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) hosted the Just Energy Transition Conference 2026 on February 1 at the Military Museum in Dhaka.

The national-level conference, themed ‘Voices for a GenderResponsive Energy Future,’ focused on the social dimensions of energy transition, including equity, inclusion, and justice, alongside technology and fi nance, with an emphasis on turning grassroots realities into policy and investment recommendations. Delivering the welcome remarks, Shaheen Anam, Executive Director of MJF, said the organization has worked for service access at the grassroots for 23 years, and warned that climate vulnerability disproportionately affects women and persons with disabilities.

A renewable transition, she said, must respond to these realities, particularly in areas such as household cooking where women face long hours and serious health risks. ‘So, energy will be clean, it will be green, and it will be for the people’s welfare,’ she said, urging that renewable energy remain a priority regardless of who forms the next government.