800 MW power to be added to nat'l grid by December

About 800 megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid by the yearend, said the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, after discussing a vast recipe for tapping potential in this sector.
Briefing newsmen at the Media Centre in the Parliament complex in the afternoon about the outcome of yesterday's meeting M Subid Ali Bhuiyan said 330-MW electricity would be generated between September and November.
A 120-MW power plant would be operated in September and another 120-MW in October at Sidhirganj while a 90-MW one in November at Fenchuganj in Sylhet, he said.
He informed that 33,000 illegal electricity connections have been snapped across the country in a special drive from July 1 to 16, under a crash course for tackling a nagging electricity crisis in the country.
Subid said they suggested in the meeting disconnecting the illegal connections in the presence of magistrates as well as carrying out a massive campaign through mass media to inform people about the snapping of illegal power lines.
He said the meeting recommended introducing National Coal Policy "as soon as possible" for utilisation of coal in production of electricity to meet a growing demand for electricity.
The parliamentarians also recommended the government for taking effective initiative for generating electricity from wind and solar power as alternative sources of energy.
In this regard, he said, offers are coming from many foreign countries for production of wind and solar power. A Swedish company has offered to generate 400-MW electricity using wind.
The standing committee chairman said they also discussed Madhyapara and Baropukuria hard-rock mine as well as wanted to know why the thermal power plant at Baropukuria is not being operated.
The meeting also inquired about the progress of investigation by a subcommittee into irregularities that had taken place in power sector during the last BNP regime.
This was the fourth meeting of the committee.
Chaired by Subid Ali Bhuiyan, the meeting was also attended by committee members State Minister for Power and Energy Shamsul Huq Tuku, Abdul Matin Khasru, M Abdul Kader Khan, Enamul Huq, Mojibur Rahman Fakir and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.