Power Sector in Bangladesh

Table of Content

Introduction

Performance of Power Sector

Power Generation

System Loss and Account Receivables

a. Transmission and Distribution

Power sector in the Budget for the FY 2006-2007

Future of Power Sector

Conclusion

Reference

1. Introduction

The current budget has put 16.1% for the energy and power sector. The purpose of this paper is to look into the power sector for the 1991 to 2005. The paper looks into various aspects of the Power Sector, such as total development of the power sector, records of consumption, records of expenditure and revenue earning in this sector. It also looks into the policy of Government of Bangladesh regarding the Power sector for the last 15 years.

2. Performance of Power Sector

In terms of number of people and coverage, there is lot of progress in this sector. There has been steady growth of coverage from the birth of the nation. But this increase is not as per with the increase in demand of the people and the industry. There are other improvements in terms of reducing system loss and increase in revenue collection. Despite various achievements, the power sector still needs more improvements.

In this section we try to put various tables and graph to show the performance of the Power sector for the last 15 years. The performance of the power sector has been divided into three areas:

Power Generation

System Loss and Account Receivables

Transmission and Distribution

2.a. Power Generation

The Power sector is divided into two zones: Western Grid and Eastern Grid. There is increase in both capacity and generation of electricity. In comparison there is more improvement in the eastern grid than western grid. In FY 2003-04 total installed power generation capacity is 4710 MW of which the public sector accounts for 3420 MW while the private sector accounted for the rest 1290 MW. In the public sector, a good number of generation units have become too old and has been operating at much reduced capacity. As a result, their reliability and productivity are also poor. For the last couple of years actual demand could not be met due to the deficit in generation. Till February 2004 demand for electricity to the tune of 3622 MW had been met [Ref 6].

The following table shows zone wise installed capacity (MW) of electricity.

Table 2A-1: Zone Wise Installed Capacity (MW) of electricity.

Year Eastern Grid Western Grid Total

1990 -1991 1908 438 2346

1991 -1992 1898 503 2398

1992 -1993 2105 503 2608

1993 -1994 2255 503 2758

1994 - 1995 2405 503 2908

1995 -1996 2405 503 2908

1996 -1997 2405 503 2908

1997 -1998 2595 496 3091

1998 -1999 2505 496 3001

1999 - 2000 3015 696 3711

2000 - 2001 3350 655 4005

2001 - 2002 3475 755 4230

2002 - 2003 3475 755 4230

2003 - 2004 3925 755 4680

Source: 2004, Statistical Year Book of Bangladesh [Ref 1] [Ref 2]

The major organizations involved in power generation, transmission and distribution activities in our country are Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Rural Electrification Board (REB) Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA), Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB). However, the nationwide power production and utilization program are being strengthened by involving the private sector during recent time [Ref 5]. A total of 20061 million kilowatt hour (MKWh) net energy, including 12583 MKWh in public sector and 7478 MKWh in private sector, has been generated during FY 2003-2004. This power generation was 8.9 percent higher than that of the previous fiscal year. Of the total net generation public sector and private sector accounts for 62.73 percent and 37.27 percent respectively. According to the official, country