The major barrier to renewable energy expansion is the people in the power and energy sector themselves, said Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, power, energy and mineral resources adviser. Many government officials in the sector have engaged with businesses and would lose their transactional benefits if a transparent and competitive system is introduced, he said. ‘We are trying to transition from such a system and it is not being liked by most of them.
they want to continue the previous system of dealings, negotiations and under-the-table transactions,’ he said at the closing ceremony of Bangladesh Energy Conference 2025 recently.
the adviser said they also want to get rid of fossil fuel usage but their dependence is by compulsion and not by choice. ‘If we had the opportunity, we would stop purchasing LNG (liquified natural gas) and would shut down the coalbased power plants,’ he added.
the conference has announced a 22-point Dhaka Declaration towards Net Zero carbon emission and a 13-point Citizen Manifesto. Hasan Mehedi, member secretary of the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development, read out the Dhaka Declaration.