Category: Energy and Power

Bangladesh needs $30 billion annually to tackle climate change impact, but bringing just $1-$2 billion from the IMF feels like an exhausting struggle, said Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed recently. Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forsecuring $5 billion will begin soon, he added when speaking at the inauguration of a training session titled ‘Navigating Climate Finance: Media Reporting’ held at PKSF auditoriuminAgargaon,Dhaka.

The Economic Relations Division and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) jointly organized the event.

The adviser said Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change due to its geography, frequent natural disasters, and large populations living on the margins in areas like Patuakhali and Shyamnagar.

Most of the crises here are man-made, he noted, adding that globally ‘we talk endlessly about climate change, but act too little.’ Against this omnipresent lethargy, Bangladesh stands as a crucial exampleofresilience and community-driven response, Salehuddin said.

Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) has urged the government to convert Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s (BPC) Tk 274.20 billion worth of outstanding debt into subsidies.

The state-run BPC owes such accumulated debt to the government on account of its losses because of selling petroleum products at lowerthan-procurement prices.

The EMRD in a recent letter sought the Finance Ministry’s necessary steps in this connection, according to officials. When contacted, a senior BPC official said, “EMR division has already made an appeal to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for taking necessary steps so that the BPC gets rid of its debt burden.” Officials at the MoF said they will scrutinize the EMRD’s plea for converting the BPC’s outstanding debts into subsidy.

They, however, said it will take some time to make a decision on the issue.

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan has said Bangladesh is facing a severe gas crisis due to dwindling domestic gas reserves and has planned to import an increased amount of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). “To mitigate the persistent gas shortage, the government will import more LNG cargoes than last year. Last year, we imported 84 LNG cargoes, but this year we will bring 20 additional cargoes, taking the number to 104 to give relief to the industry and other sectors,” he said on 27 August.

He was addressing a webinar titled “4th State of Investment ClimateBangladesh”, organized by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

Bida Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun moderated the program.

Acknowledging the 1,000 mmcf daily gas shortage, the energy adviser said the previous government didn’t take any initiatives to explore local gas sources.

Rooppur nuclear power plant is a prestigious project of Bangladesh, which has become a member of the elite club of nuclear electricity producers.

The plant is situated at Ishwardi in the district of Pabna, on the river Padma, which flows lean in the dry season and is full and turbulent in the Monsoon.

The plant consists of two units, each with a 1,200 MW Russian reactor model VVER-1200, for a total capacity of 2,400 MW.

Both units are under construction, and one of them has started pre-commissioning tests.

It is a turnkey project under Russian credit, and ROSATOM, a state-owned company of Russia, is taking care of the design, supply, installation, and commissioning.

The VVER-1200 model has been designed for cold countries like Russia, where cooling water below 20°C is naturally available at sea, lakes, and rivers.

The nominal capacity of 1,200 MW is based on cold weather conditions.

Bangladesh is a hot country, and so the capacity will be reduced.

Effect of hot weather in Bangladesh The ambient temperature in Ishwardi reaches 40°C during the peak summer.

The river water temperature also becomes very hot.

The cooling water temperature after evaporative cooling in cooling towers will be 32°C, and that at the condenser inlet will be 33°C, which is 15°C higher than the design temperature of 18°C.

As a result, the turbine will miss the output involved in this 15-degree range.

The plant will not be able to reach the nominal capacity.

A research paper states that capacity will decrease by 0.444% for a 1-degree increase in water temperature.

Thus, for hot weather, each unit of the Rooppur power plant will be de-rated by about 80 MW.

Borrowing of electricity from the national grid Unlike conventional nuclear power plants, the VVER-1200 cannot drive its auxiliaries by bleeding its own steam.

It has to borrow electricity from an external source.

There are huge water pumps and powerful motor-driven valves in the primary and secondary loops.

Additionally, the circuit contains numerous control unit assembly drives, ventilation units, and pumps, all of which require electrical power.

To run auxiliary drives, the plant will draw 120 MW from the grid, and the generated power will be adjusted accordingly. Power required for electric preheaters There are many pre-heaters in water and steam circuits.

They are all electric heaters instead of their own steam-heated heaters.

They will require huge amounts of electrical power, which will also come from an external source.

The power requirement will be around 10 MW. Power required by the fans of cooling towers The Rooppur power plant will utilize forced draft cooling towers to enhance evaporative cooling, producing cold water for the steam condenser.

Highpower draft fans are installed around the perimeter of the towers at the base.

The fans are an additional requirement for a plant in a cold country.

The fans will require approximately 12 MW of electrical power (0.1% of the nominal capacity), which the national grid will also supply.

Summation Rooppur power plant with a total capacity of 2,400 MW will be de-rated to about 1,960 MW (for hot weather, 160 MW, and for refund of borrowed electricity, 280 MW).

It will not be a surprise if the plant’s average output drops to 1,500 MW.

The situation will be a disappointment as the original levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) will no longer be valid.

The cost recovery plan of the project will be in jeopardy. Conclusion The VVER-1200, a high-capacity plant, faces a substantial reduction in capacity and is not cost-effective for Bangladesh.

Smaller plants, with a nominal capacity of around 500 MW that reject steam at temperatures above 50°C, will be a better choice for Bangladesh’s future expansion program, if any.

In that case, the steam can be condensed using naturally available water from a river or sea.

The plants shall be able to bleed steam to power the auxiliary drives, rather than relying on an external source for power.

Awoman and her daughter died after being electrocuted after a live wire of a water pump came in contact with the floodwater in front of their house in Fatullah upazila of Narayanganj recently, police said.

The victims are Rokhsana Parvin, 50, of Sheharchar, and her daughter Lamia Akhter, 24.

The incident took place in the Sheharchar area, said Fatullah Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shariful Islam.

Family members said Lamia was a third-year student of Narayanganj’s Government Tolaram College.

Sub-Inspector Kazi Abul Bashar of Fatullah Police Station said waterlogging is a common problem in the area during the rainy season.

The family had installed an electric pump to drain the floodwater.

Bangladesh’s first nuclear power facility at Rooppur has demonstrated a strong commitment to operational safety, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) review team that concluded its mission on 27 August.

The Pre-Operational Safety Review Team (Pre-OSART) visit, conducted at Dhaka’s request, assessed Unit 1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) ahead of its commercial launch, the IAEA said in a statement.

Such missions benchmark nuclear facilities against global safety standards before they begin loading fuel. Located in Pabna on the banks of the Padma River, the twinunit plant will add 2,400 MW(e) to Bangladesh’s grid once both Russian-built VVER1200 reactors are operational.

Unit 1 construction began in 2017, followed by Unit 2 in 2018.

At the initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Department of Environment (DoE) recently conducted mobile court operations simultaneously across the country to control noise and air pollution.

Significant fines have been collected, hydraulic horns seized, and legal action taken against violators in operations conducted in various districts, including Dhaka, Kurigram, Keraniganj, and Nilphamari.

In a mobile court operation in the Aminbazar area of Savar, nine vehicles were inspected.

Five of these vehicles were fined a total of Tk 18,000, and nine horns were seized.

In another operation targeting black smoke emissions in the Kuril Biswa Road Khilkhet area of Dhaka, conducted in cooperation with BRT, a total of Tk 10,000 in fines was collected from five cases under the Environmental Protection Act, 1995 (amended 2010).

A vehicle belonging to Victor Classic Paribahan was sent to a dumping ground for repeating the same offense despite being warned previously.

The DoE has stated that these types of mobile court operations to control noise and air pollution will continue regularly across the country.

Kazi Shah Muzakker Ahmadul Hoque has been appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia to Bangladesh.

On May 29, 2025, the Honorable President of Croatia, Mr. Zoran Milanovic, officially conferred this responsibility upon him.

Subsequently, the Government of Bangladesh has granted him the Exequatur, thereby formally recognizing his appointment and authorizing him to carry out the responsibilities entrusted by Croatia on 18 August, 2025.

In response to his appointment, Kazi Shah Muzakker Ahmadul Hoque stated, ‘This appointment is not only an honor but also a profound responsibility.

I hope to contribute towards strengthening the bonds of friendship, cooperation, and mutual development between Bangladesh and Croatia.’ Croatia is a picturesque country in Southeast Europe, located along the Adriatic Sea.

Technology group Wärtsilä will supply its flexible engine technology for a new 217 MW power plant to be installed in Nebraska, USA.

The contract has been awarded by Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), a public corporation and political subdivision of the State of Nebraska.

The order was booked by Wärtsilä in Q1 2025.

The plant will be located near Hallam, Nebraska, and will operate 12 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines running primarily on natural gas fuel.

However, the engines can flexibly switch to diesel fuel if there are interruptions in natural gas supply, such as during challenging weather conditions.

The Wärtsilä engines are scheduled to be delivered to the site in August 2027, and the plant is expected to commence commercial operations in 2028. Wärtsilä’s flexible engine technology facilitates the possible integration of renewable energy into the system.

The world’s first commercial service offering carbon storage off Norway’s coast has carried out its inaugural CO2 injection into the North Sea seabed, the Northern Lights c o n s o r t i u m operating the site said recently. Northern Lights, led by oil giants Equinor, Shell, and T o t a l E n e r g i e s , involves transporting and burying CO2 captured at smokestacks across Europe.

The aim is to prevent emissions from being released into the atmosphere, and thereby help halt climate change. “We now injected and stored the very first CO2 safely in the reservoir,” Northern Lights’ managing director Tim Heijn said in a statement. “Our ships, facilities, and wells are now in operation.” In concrete terms, after the CO2 is captured, it is liquified and transported by ship to the Oygarden terminal near Bergen on Norway’s western coast.

It is then transferred into large tanks before being injected through a 110 kilometre (68-mile) pipeline into the seabed, at a depth of around 2.6 kilometers, for permanent storage.

The first CO2 injection into the Northern Lights geological reservoir was from Germany’s Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Brevik in southeastern Norway.