Govt looks for alternatives to gas, says Petrobangla chief

The government is considering exploring alternatives to gas, such as coal, in order to ensure a secure supply of electricity for industrial production, Jalal Ahmed, chairman of Petrobangla, said yesterday.
“A developing country must secure industrial production, and this is mainly supported by an adequate electricity supply, so we are considering to emphasize exploring coal seriously as an alternative to gas,” said Ahmed.
He was addressing a discussion session on 'The Needs for Energy Consumers" arranged by International Business Forum for Bangladesh in Dhaka.
Bangladesh currently uses 70 percent of its gas to produce power.
“As the country suffers badly from load shedding, which has made our lives difficult and hampered domestic production, we need an alternative to focus on,” he said.
Third round block bidding has become very important as Petrobangla's forecast shows a grim picture of gas supply shortfall beginning from 2011. With energy demand rapidly increasing, the country has no option but to tap all its potentials immediately.
Responding to speakers, Petrobangla chairman said they would try to overcome the weak sides of the model production-sharing contract (MPSC) 2008 to explore new gas fields.
In his keynote paper, Nazrul Islam, executive director and CEO of Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Center (IIFC), said, the government needs to ensure sufficient power supply and the price to be reasonable to secure the pace of industrial growth in the country.
“To ensure a healthy GDP and GNP, the government has no choice other than securing power supply,” he added.
Islam suggested the government should make plans to secure power supply by taking steps such as developing coal as the second main power generator and set-up Coal Bangla to undertake the development of the sector.
Ahmed said the government is to announce the national coal policy by June.
Mahmudul Ahmed Chowdhury, president of IBFB and Jeffery Van Ness, resident country director of International Republic Institute (IRI) were also present at the discussion session.