Can an anxious Bangladesh curb its power shortage?

Can an anxious Bangladesh curb its power shortage?

The state of Bangladesh will face an endemic power crisis in the coming days. To curb the chronic shortage of power supply in the country, an anxious Energy Adviser Tapan Chowdhury is considering the possibility of importing electricity from its neighbouring countries, citing Myanmar as a prospective country. Just as Thailand set up a hydropower plant in Myanmar and buys out the generated electricity from that plant, Tapan feels that the Bangladesh can do the same. He said that hydro-electricity could either be imported directly from that country or Bangladesh could invest there to generate hydropower for inward transmission under some bilateral agreement.

Some time earlier, the energy adviser also proposed to buy electricity from Bhutan, from which India purchases it on production under a mutual arrangement. But for these plans to be able to work out well with its neighbouring countries, Bangladesh must first establish good bilateral relations with them, Myanmar in particular. It would be wise for Bangladesh to purchase electricity from Myanmar instead of setting up a hydropower plant to generate electricity into its own state. Myanmar has just become a new member of the nascent Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC), and it recently agreed to re-open the dialogue for the proposed tri-nation gas pipeline to export gas from its land to India. These two new developments can be seen as a catalyst that will generate a closer-bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

But to plan ahead of getting electricity from other countries is not enough. Bangladesh said it is looking into all options available for overcoming the rampant power shortage in the country. Tapan said that he is also considering the nuclear option, assuring the state that his ministry will do well to assess the workability of the various options to obtain sustainable power supply.

There may be plans but if there isn’t action, Bangladesh is back at square one. The efforts for the economic development of the country cannot proceed until the country steps up to build better bilateral relations. It also has to ensure that its options can function undisturbed and will not be adversely affected by external factors upon implementation. The public is not patient in the face of shriveling power supply; action has to be taken quickly. Will Bangladesh be able to step up on its strategies to curb the problem, or will the country set out on endeavours of which results are uncertain? What is your say?