Solar energy use sees major growth

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=124464&date=2011-01-30
Solar energy use sees major growth

People enjoying TV powered by a Grameen Shakti Solar Power System. Source: http://www.gshakti.org/

Mushir Ahmed
The country is making a big stride in the use of renewable energy with companies and charities doubling the number of solar-powered houses to nearly 800,000 last year.
Soft-credit by a government-owned financiers, stepped-up marketing and a longing for a better life by millions of rural poor are powering the growth of solar energy use, officials said Saturday.
Grameen Shakti (GS), a sister company of Grameen Bank, is leading the surge, aided by more than two dozen firms and non-government organisations, in what experts describe as a major private sector push in power sector.
With 50 per cent of the country’s households still remaining outside the power grid such firms have now unveiled an ambitious plan to bring 35 million people under the coverage of renewable energy by 2015.
“When the GS started 14 years back, I never imagined that a day would come when we can add 1,000 solar home system (SHS) a day,” said Ruhul Quddus who now heads Rural Services Foundation (RSF), a for-profit charity owned by Rahimafrooz.
Quddus was at the helm of GS when the firm sold only 228 SHSs in fiscal 1996-97. Last year 29 firms and charities sold 400,000 SHSs to take countrywide solar-powered homes to nearly 800,000.
“It took us 10 years to cross the 10,000 threshold. And now we are in a position to power a million households every year,” he said.
Emboldened by its recent success, the GS aims to cover five million households under solar power, making the renewable energy available to some 25 million people in the next five years and other firms and charities hope to power the rest 10 million.
Last year alone the GS powered some 200,600 households with solar system, taking its tally to half a million. The RSF sold more than 50,000 and Brac, Srizony, Ubomus, Hilful Fuzul and other charities, the rest 130,000.
Officials said a 5.0-8.0 per cent soft credit lent to the solar firms by state-owned renewable energy financier, IDCOL, sparked the growth four years back, making the SHS affordable to villages not connected to the national grid.
Development of a monthly payment package and 20-year product maturity and service period made the system financially attractive to poor and middle income clients.
It means a rural poor can now buy a basic 20-50 watt SHS just at the cost of his monthly kerosene or candle bill.
“A 50 watt SHS is most popular because it powers four lights and a black and white television set. And the cost is around Tk 25,000, which can be paid back in small installments in three years,” said Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of the GS.
Kamal said his company has set a target to double SHS clients to one million in 2011 — a feat it had earlier hoped to achieve by 2015.
“We also revised our long term plan following success in 2010. By 2015, we want to sell solar system to five million households. And we think it is achievable,” he said.
He said people in the coastal areas, migration-prone districts and wealthy villages in Chittagong and Sylhet were first to convert to solar power.
But now, the company has offices in every sub-district town in the country, employing 8,500 trained staff and it is planning to recruit thousands more.
RSF chief Quddus said his charity would add 100,000 new SHS this year and seek to expand aggressively in urban areas where an acute power crisis has forced the authorities to freeze connections to new apartment projects.
The firms have also unleashed new solar-powered thermal system, irrigation, mobile phone base stations and geysers in an effort to help boost growth.
Late last year, a group of entrepreneurs launched SolarEn Foundation to sell SHS mostly to the urban clients.
“We think SHS will have high growth in cities this year because power-starved realtors are keen to use solar power in almost all their new projects,” said SolarEn’s chief Monir Hossain.
“It is costly. But a lot of realtors don’t have any choice,” he added.
As part of its urban drive, Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy had set up solar system at the PM office and Bangladesh Bank last year and the GS brought 18 big clients including those in district and sub-district headquarters under its large-scale SHS programme.
A company does not get soft credit benefit from IDCOL if it sells solar system to grid areas especially in cities, but officials said declining cost of solar panel has made this form of alternative energy attractive to urban consumers.
RRE’s $5.0 million solar panel plant kicks off production this March, aimed at substituting import and cutting cost. Another group, Electro, has already launched a similar factory on a test-case basis.
“As far as we know, six more companies are on the pipeline to build solar panel manufacturing plant in Bangladesh this year,” said RRE programme manager Istiaq Ahmed.
The RRE also took its solar success to seven African countries, lighting up the streets of the dark continent, in the first such case of export in the Bangladesh’s history, he said.
“From batteries to panel to cable, the success of solar energy has opened up array of new opportunities in the country’s industrial sector,” Dipal C Barua, who headed GS for many years, had said earlier.
“It is poised to become a big driver of our growth,” he added.

Summit strikes deals to finance three power projects

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=172050
Summit strikes deals to finance three power projects
Star Business Report
Local Summit Group and US General Electric (GE) signed an agreement on Thursday with IDLC to receive $115 million from the World Bank’s Investment Promotion Facilitation Fund to implement two 341-megawatt power projects in Bibiyana.
On the same day, the two companies signed another deal with Janata Bank and Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC) to raise Tk 1,500 crore through zero-coupon bonds. This fund will be pumped into the Meghnaghat dual fuel 335MW power project.
Summit was awarded the Bibiyana gas-fired projects and the Meghnaghat power project about four months back. The Bibiyana projects will need $560 million (Tk 3,920 crore) and Meghnaghat Tk 2,100 crore investment.
The Thursday’s deal ensures a large part of financing for these three power projects expected to begin production in early 2013 of the cheapest electricity costing less than Tk 2 per kilowatt hour.
Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan said Janata Bank and IIDFC would provide Summit with Tk 1,500 crore against a sanction of Tk 2,100 crore financing. The remaining Tk 600 crore is deducted as advance interest for the next four years.
“As infrastructure like this has long gestation periods, zero-coupon bonds enable companies to implement these projects with an optimised cash flow.”
The bonds carry a 5 percent discount and 12 percent convertible to the shares of Summit Meghnaghat Power Company at net asset value of the company.
Summit Power Ltd has recently become the lowest in yet two more power tenders, Syedpur 100MW power plant and Shantahar 50MW power plant. Reports say the prime minister signed the work award orders on January 21.

Govt takes programme to generate 20,000 MW power

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=7&id=158905&date=2011-02-02
Govt takes programme to generate 20,000 MW power
SANGSAD BHABAN, Feb 02 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said her government has undertaken a programme to produce 20,000 megawatt electricity to solve the country’s existing power crisis and ensuring power for all by 2020-2021.
Replying to a question by treasury bench members Choyon Islam in the Jatiya Sangsad, she told the house that her government during the last two years has added 1131 MW electricity to the national grid.
Besides, agreement has signed in public and private sector to set up 35 more power plants with the capacity of 3,158 megawatt. Of the total, she said five power plants with the capacity of 410 MW have already gone into commercial operation while rest 30 power plants are remained under construction.
Apart from this, the purchase committee has approved the proposal of setting up four power plants with 1,234 MW and a quick rental power plant with capacity of 53 MW in the IPP sector.
The Prime Minister also referred various programes of her government to set up nuclear power plant and using renewable energy for power generation.

Ownership of coal in Bangladesh

Md. Mosharraf Hossain

Ownership of coal in Bangladesh

Historically exploration and exploitation of minerals resources, including coal, have been allowed in lieu of payment by the sponsor a percentage of the value of minerals as 'Royalty'. This was the practice by the then British Empire in India, Australia and Africa. This royalty was taken as a symbol of ownership by the crown and the mining companies could invest explore, develop, process and sell the minerals for its own gain by paying the royalty to the crown. Through the process of payment of royalty, ownership of minerals is transferred to the developers, empowering them to do anything with the minerals. In some states the ownership of minerals found under the land in an individual's possession belongs to him and not to the state. Any developer willing to develop these minerals must pay the royalty to the individual owner of the land to become a legal owner of the said minerals. The developer thus obtains the right for mining and selling the minerals under the land of the original property holder through payment of royalty. When the mineral-bearing property of the Republic is allowed to be worked out by any individual under the royalty system, obviously he is given the ownership of the minerals for which the royalty is being paid and thus the ownership is effectively being allowed to change from the Republic to a company. Such change of ownership is not permissible for the underground minerals of Bangladesh as per the country's Constitution.

Article 143 of the Consti-tution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh states:

" 143. (a). There shall vest in the Republic in addition to any other and or property lawfully vested, all minerals and any other things of value underlying any land of Bangladesh

"(b) All lands, minerals and other things of value underlying the ocean within the territorial waters or the ocean over the continental shelf of Bangladesh."

As the lawful owner of these minerals is the Republic, there cannot be any law which will challenge the ownership of the mineral resources by the country. So any laws which will contradict the ownership of minerals by the Republic will be redundant. Therefore, the Mines and Minerals Rules, 1968, under which the royalty system is still being maintained, needs to be scrutinised in the light of the provisions in the Constitution and amended so that the ownership of minerals is not transferred to any company or a new act in the line of Petroleum Act, 1974 needs to be enacted so that the provisions of the Constitution are upheld.

A bold decision was taken in 1974 for exploration and development of petroleum in Bangladesh and the concept of Production Sharing Contract was introduced. The preamble of the Model Production Sharing Contract states:

1. All mineral resources including petroleum within the territory, continental shelf and economic zone of Bangladesh are vested in the People's Republic of Bangladesh and

2. The Government has under the Bangladesh Petroleum Act, 1974 (act no LXIX of 1974 (as amended up to date) the exclusive right and authority to explore, develop, exploit, produce, process, refine, and market petroleum resources within the territory, continental shelf and economic zone of Bangladesh and it has the exclusive right to enter into petroleum agreements with any persons for the purpose of any petroleum operations

3. Pertrobangla shall have the power to exercise rights and powers of the Government to explore, develop, exploit, produce, process, refine, market petroleum in the territory, continental shelf and economic zone of Bangladesh and also to enter into petroleum agreement with any person or company for the purpose of any petroleum operations.

These citations indicate that the petroleum resources cannot be independently explored or developed by any company or person as per the provisions in the Bangladesh Petroleum Act, 1974.The purpose was to establish the ownership of petroleum in Bangladesh by the Republic.

On the other hand, the Mines and Minerals Rules, 1968, says any body can apply for exploration and development of minerals and exploration or mining lease contract can exercise all the rights of the ownership of the minerals through payment of royalty. The rights of the lessee or licensee and provisions of payment by the lessee or licensee of mineral-bearing zone as presented in the Mines and Minerals Rules, 1968 are as follows:

The lessee shall have the liberty and power to enter upon the leased area and to search and win, work, get, raise or convert and carry away the leased mineral. (Sixth Schedule, item 3.Liberty to work)

All these rights are granted to the lessee in lieu of an annual fee prescribed in the rule 27, viz the lessee shall pay to the Government, in respect of land owned by the government, the yearly land revenue, rent, cess and water bill, at such rates as may be determined by the concerned authority.

As per provision of the rules 44 of the Mines and Minerals Rules, 1968 royalty, as prescribed for the particular type of minerals shall be paid by the Lessee.

Due to the legacy of the past the rules and regulations of mining as are being adopted were drafted or enacted hundred years ago. The provisions of ownership continued to be incorporated under the royalty system untill Bangladesh was established in 1971. At this point of time the subject related to minerals was given a special point of reference in the Constitution and the Republic was declared to be the owner of all minerals. Following this when there was a petroleum exploration need in the country, a special petroleum act was enacted in 1974 which embodied the power of exercising full authority on petroleum by Bangladesh. The term royalty was thus sidetracked and petroleum could only be explored and developed by the state-owned organisation which could appoint a contractor for the work. The concept of production sharing was conveniently adopted to finance exploration and development of hydro-carbon resources of Bangladesh.

But as the minerals were not on the focus at the time when the Petroleum Act was promulgated, the old practice of royalty-based award of mineral exploration and mining lease continued even after the ownership of minerals was declared to be vested in the Republic. Since Mines and Mineral Rules, 1968 was a continuation of provisions adopted under the Mines Act, 1923, when the ownership was not explicitly defined, the process of royalty did not change in the mining and minerals sector though the petroleum issue was taken out of this anomaly.

The ownership transfer of minerals is a serious issue because when coal is worth $100 per ton, the licensee or lessee, under the coverage of royalty, shall get benefit of selling coal at whatever price and to whom it may like only paying 5-10% of the pit head value of coal to the Government. Prior to 1971, the areas in Bangladesh that were given to the international oil companies (IOCs) under the license and royalty system, production, price and sales were controlled by the IOCs. Shell, PPL, Stanvac, etc worked under royalty system but since 1971, this practice has stopped and there is no provision of royalty in the Petroleum Act, 1974.

The practice of ownership of minerals by a company cannot be allowed to continue in the country. For the sake of equal treatment, the minerals and mines systems need to be brought at par with the petroleum sector so far as the regulatory systems are concerned. As the petroleum side is already reaping benefit for the country by discarding the royalty system, this practice should also be added to the mines and minerals sector.

Royalty is not a very good mechanism of reaping benefit from an asset especially if it is an exhaustible one. Giving license for some thing or leasing of some asset is conceivable if it is of permanent nature, for example land which could be retrievable after say 100 years, but mineral resources which are non-renewable will be lost after the lease period.

Mineral deposits, when given under royalty system, cannot ensure maximum profit for the owner. This question of getting benefits from royalty is increasingly being raised in the countries where the exploitation of mineral resources constitutes a significant element in national economies. There must be an appropriate reciprocity for the reduction in natural capital resulting from exploitation of non-renewable resources and heated debates have been generated in the countries well-known for mining activities, focusing on the benefits and limitations of royalty systems applicable to mining. Again, these are practised by the countries having vast mineral resources which are unlikely to be worked out for major economic gain by the country itself. This is not the case with Bangladesh.

Bangladesh under the Minerals and Mining Rules, 1968 allocated two coal blocks to two prospective minerals companies; one for the Khalashpir coal deposits and the other, for Phulbari coal deposits. These two major coal blocks given on the basis of the Mines and Minerals Rules, 1968 have raised serious questions as to how far the age-old rules are relevant in the context of Bangladesh. When the petroleum sub-sector is being driven dynamically and very effectively under a different set of updated rules, there cannot be any justification for the minerals and mining sectors to stick to the old rules which are not in the best interest of the country. Above all, when the said rules are conflicting to the provisions of the Constitution, it is high time that a revised or amended set of rules for Mines and Minerals, in line with the Petroleum Act, 1974, is put in place

Coal Discovered in Deep Forest of Laxmichari

Reported by Khagchari Representative

Coal has been discovered in the Burmachari deep forest of Laxmichari located in the Khagchari Hill Tracts Zilla. After receiving a news from a reliable source, the nearby military command and Sub-Zilla administration have jointly visited the place and have reported of the existence of a valuable coal mine there.

They have brought with them the samples from the coal field. After receiving a news, 12 Field Regiment Artillery Laxmichari Zone Commander Lt. Col. Md. Salhuddin Al-Murad and Sub-Zilla Chief Administrator Md. Mizanur Rahman went by car to a distance and then walked to reach the area.

There they found the entire mountain to be full of coal. Even the water flowing through the canals were also carrying pieces of coal. The locals told that many of them use this coal for cooking and to warm themselves during the winter cold. Other people accompanied them also saw this coal. They were Laxmichari Zonal Adjutant Lt. Shams, Burmachari Camp Commander Lt. Akber, Laxmichari Police Offficer-in-charge Md. Shahjahan, Thana AL President Abul Hashem Chowdhury and other honourable persons as well as a few news reporters.

Samples have been sent to Dhaka for its chemical tests. Lt. Col. Salahuddin Murad said that not only coal, other minerals including iron ores may also be found there. Sub-Zilla's Md. Mizanur Rahman said that there is no doubt about a coal field there. He would shortly write to the Mineral Ministry about this field so that people's living conditions can be improved with the use of this coal.

Note that coal has also been found in a place named Iranchari, which is adjacent to Dighinala. Two officials of the Fuel Ministry have already taken samples from this place for a laboratory test.

Govt plans to acquire foreign coal, gas fields Energy adviser says; country needs to generate 30,000-50,000 MW power in next two decades

Govt plans to acquire foreign coal, gas fields


Sharier Khan

Alongside tapping the coal and gas resources in the country, the government is planning to acquire some coal and gas fields abroad to ensure long-term energy security, said Energy Adviser Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

At a discussion of the power division and Power Development Board (PDB) on Saturday he said, “We are looking at generating 30,000 to 50,000 megawatts of power in the next two decades and hence are open to acquiring assets in other countries.”

In future, half the country’s energy would be generated from coal, he told the discussion organised to interact with the four non-resident Bangladeshi experts who were invited by The Daily Star to share their knowledge on alternative energy and new technology at the newspaper’s first Colloquium Friday.

Replying to a question on why the government has not yet taken any visible move on larger scale coal development, the energy adviser said the works on building a coal city in Barapukuria was in progress which would serve as a hub for coal development in that region.

“We have to ask the National Water Modelling Institute to study the aquifers in the northern region so that we understand the effect and result of coal mining there,” he said, adding, “Presently, we lack adequate data.”

Understanding ground water tables is vital for coal mining. Mining without understanding the water structure can seriously affect the ground water situation.

The energy adviser noted that for such enormous development in the energy sector, especially surrounding coal, an investment of billions of dollars is required to develop the road, water and rail infrastructure to transport raw materials and equipment.

He observed that in the last two years, the government moved for procurement of 4,000MW of power — something that no other government had done before.

This year, the government would move for procurement of the similar scale and complete tendering for setting up of a terminal to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as an alternative backup for the country’s declining gas supplies.

“Besides, we are also considering a plan to import Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from Shahbazpur Gas Field in Bhola to serve the gas starving regions (this gas field is largely unutilised). Similarly, we can transport some excess gas from the Sylhet region through rail to Chittagong,” said Towfiq-e-Elahi.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was offering loans for 3,000MW solar power to its member countries, the energy adviser noted, adding that he had sought loans for 500MW from the bank. The ADB has not responded to the proposal, but it gave an initial positive feedback.

“How do we utilise this opportunity? I have discussed the matter with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and she proposed that we install 1MW solar unit in each upazila. This may be a good idea. A 1MW solar unit will take three acres of land and can pave the way to spread solar plants across the country by 2012,” said the adviser.

He said the government is also considering solution to providing energy to rural people — 80 percent of the country’s population, who have no access to commercial fuel.

“Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) is preparing a strategy paper on how to address this issue so that these people no longer have to depend on firewood and leaves for primary fuel,” he said.

The government is also taking initiatives for energy services for the poor, he said pointing out that most of the poor people cannot afford power, which they should to change their lives.

One such initiative can provide power to 15,000 community clinics across the country from where the poor people would get the services dependent of power.

The government is also forming National Energy Research Council in line with the existing National Agriculture Research Council. This new council will open scope for local researchers, engineering graduates or students to conduct research on various aspects of energy for home grown solutions, said Towfiq-e-Elahi, adding that non-resident Bangladeshi experts will be involved in this council.

ADB set to provide solar, wind-run combined power plants to BD

Dhaka—Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide its newly innovated solar- and wind-run combined power plants to Bangladesh for the country’s power generation.This was disclosed by visiting ADB Vice President Xiaoyu Zhao when he called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in Dhaka Sunday.

The ADB will provide two units of their new generation power plants to Bangladesh, which will be set up in the country’s remote areas as pilot project. The ADB offer of the renewable energy plants came as Bangladesh is reeling under severe power cuts.

After the meeting, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad told journalists that the ADB has further assured Sheikh Hasina about the fund it committed for the Padma Bridge. The Prime Minister told the ADB official that her government is committed to realizing its vision of a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ and turning it into a middle income country by 2021, the golden jubilee year of the country’s independence.

She said the Padma Bridge is expected to give new momentum to economic activities of Bangladesh’s south and southwestern region and will open up a new horizon for socioeconomic development of the area prone to natural calamity. Referring to the proposed deep sea port, Hasina said Bangladesh will allow its neighbors including China and India to use the port which will eventually bring benefit to the entire region.

She said the present democratic government attached due priority to establishing rule of law and promoting good governance in the country. Besides, the Prime Minister mentioned another thrust area for the government to encourage Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in materializing development efforts of Bangladesh.

She also said policy, strategy and guidelines of PPP have already been published in the official gazette and a new office for this will be established shortly under the Prime Minister’s Office. Hasina thanked the ADB for being a responsive and conscious development partner of Bangladesh since it became a member of ADB in 1973. She requested ADB’s assistance to Bangladesh for the development of infrastructure, power, transport, ports, river dredging and urban development for sustaining higher GDP growth rate.—APP

PM eyes 11000MW by 2015

 | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

Chittagong, Sep 8 (bdnews24.com)—Another 1600MW power will be added to the national grid by the end of this year and total generation will be raised to 11,000MW by 2015, prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

Hasina was addressing a rally at Shikolbaha, Chittagong on Wednesday, after inaugurating a 150MW peaking power plant. This declaration came amid a severe power crisis across the country. At present, average production is only 4000MW against a demand of about 5500MW, according to the Power Development Board.

Addressing the rally at the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) ground, the prime minister said her government is working on a plan to add a total of another 9,426MW to the national grid by 2015. Hasina also vowed to set up a 2,000MW coal-based plant soon in the port city.

The prime minister also inaugurated the much-awaited third Karnaphuli Bridge, connecting Chittagong metropolitan city with the southern parts of the division.

"We are working to ensure economic liberation of the people," Hasina said and declared to make the country self-dependent by 2021.

"I also want to work for you, please keep faith in the government. We are working to ease the sufferings in the people's lives."

The prime minister promised developments for Chittagong and revealed that an initiative had been taken to regularise capital dredging in a bid to keep the Chittagong port working.

Also, she pledged expansion of road from Chittagong's Dohazari to China's Kung Ming province via Cox's Bazar's Ghumdhum, construction of a stadium in south Chittagong and embankments at Anowara and Bashkhali coasts, increase of Bangladesh Television's programmes for Chittagong station to 12 hours, and establishment of a deep sea port at Shonadia.

Before the rally, Hasina landed at Shikolbaha on a helicopter at 11.25am and inaugurated the 150MW peaking power plant at 12pm. Energy advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Enamul Haque and other senior officials of the power division accompanied her.

At the end of the rally, the prime minister opened the third Karnaphuli Bridge around 1.45pm. Communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, and top officials of the Roads and Highways Department and other senior officials were present.

Sunetra gas field exploration likely to be delayed

New Age | Newspaper


Manjurul Ahsan

The start of the drilling of an exploration well in the Sunetra gas field is likely to be delayed until at least the end of the year as the state-run petroleum exploration and extraction company Bapex and its parent organisation Petrobangla have failed to finalise a development project proposal.

According to experts working within Bapex and Petrobangla, the Sunetra structure which is located in Sunamganj and Netrakona could become the biggest exploration success of the state-run corporation.

Although Bapex had given the project its highest priority and has planned to drill an exploration well by April, this will not happen until December at the earliest. The discovery of the gas field was announced in August 2010.

An energy division official told New Age that it would take more than a year from now before any fully-fledged operation to drill an exploration well takes place.

Officials say that although both Bapex and Petrobangla have been involved in exchanging letters in relation to the development project proposal and have visited the gas field, little work has actually been done.

Bapex sent its first project proposal to Petrobangla in September 2010 setting out an intention to drill an exploration well by March-April 2011 at a cost of Tk 77.32 crore.

Following feedback from Petrobangla, Bapex sent another proposal on October 12, 2010 suggesting the drilling of at least three more development wells along with the exploration well at a cost of Tk 277.32 crore.

Petrobangla and Bapex officials then spent about a month on discussions before deciding that it should propose that the project should be funded by the government with the gas development fund created from increases in the gas bill collected by gas distribution agencies from consumers.

The Bapex managing director told New Age that Bapex would use its own funds to conduct the project implementation with financial adjustments being made subsequently. Petrobangla, however, has not yet approved the proposal.

The Petrobangla chairman, Hossain Monsur, on Monday told New Age that they would be able to drill one exploration well by the end of the year if land acquisition, the construction of a drill pad and other infrastructures, increasing the capacity of an 8 km connecting road and mobilisation of rig were conducted properly.

He said that the geological structure identified through two-dimensional seismic surveys was very suggestive of a gas field with a reserve of two to three trillion cubic feet.

Mansur, who is also a geologist, told New Age that in the past week he had visited the project area and decided that the place where drilling for an exploration well should take place needed to be changed.

In the presence of local public representatives, they also talked with the owners of the five to six acres of land where the drilling will take place.

Both the parties agreed that Bapex would pay a yearly rent of Tk 60,000 for each acre of land. If gas was found, Bapex would then buy the land at Tk 7 lakh an acre, it was agreed.

Petrobangla and BAPEX officials expressed their fear that the government would give away the field to an international oil company on the pretext that the state-run agencies had failed and there was lack of money to conduct such operations.

At a conference at the Petrobangla office on August 9, 2010 Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the prime minister’s energy adviser, said that the state-run petroleum exploration and extraction agencies might agree a joint-venture agreement with IOCs in prospective areas such as Netrakona.

Many experts and energy sector officials had a different view arguing that the Sunetra gas field had a potential to supply the country with a huge amount of gas for a long time at a lower price if exploration and extraction was undertaken by government agencies.

2,600MW power plant being built with Indian help

A 2,600-megawatt coal-fired power plant is being built with India's assistance in Rampal upazila to reduce nagging power crisis in the country.

Bangladesh and India signed an agreement to build the country's biggest-ever power plant in Bagerhat district under a joint venture initiative.

Bangladesh's Power Development Board (PDB) and India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) are designated to implement the project by 2016.

Ministry of Land already gave nod to acquire land at Sapmari-Katakhali and Koigordaskathi area in Rampal to develop land for implementing the project.

Mohammad Akram Hossain, deputy commissioner of Bagerhat, said 1,834 acres of land were acquired at Sapmari Katakhali-Koigardaskathi area in the first phase of land acquisition.

Notices have been served to land owners for the second phase of land acquisition.

Project Director Engineer Mohammad Abul Kashem said the power plant would be built in three phases.

In the first phase, the land will be filled with soil and developed for setting up construction materials and building infrastructure.

In the second phase, structures will be built on the land and in the third machines will be stalled.

An 18-member delegation of Bangladesh will visit the power plant area today.


Source: The Daily Star

India, Bangladesh to ready contours of SAARC electricity market

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Economy : India, Bangladesh to ready contours of SAARC electricity market





India and Bangladesh have been entrusted with the task of giving a final shape to the proposed South-Asia electricity grid.

Participation in the SAARC Market for Electricity (SAME) — envisaging electricity trading across member states — is likely to happen on the electricity market windows that are already in place in India. The windows, including the two operational power exchanges here, as well as through short-term and long-term contracts, can be expanded to allow participants from the other South Asian countries to come on board for cross-country exchanges, according to the action plan decided on by a SAARC Expert Group on Electricity meeting last week.

The participation in the market, as is being envisaged, will be on a voluntary basis, unlike compulsory pooling of power as required in similar platforms operating in other parts of the world.

Lead role for India

According to officials involved in the exercise, India has a lead role in preparing the concept papers on developing the framework for planning cross-border transmission links, including the methodology for implementing the cross-border transmission infrastructure. Also, India has been asked to ready a paper on the operation of stable and secure SAARC electricity grids, including coordinated scheduling and settlements proceeds for long-term and short-term cross-border electricity trade. Bangladesh is to prepare a note on the structures and the institutional mechanisms needed for regulatory issues on cross-border electricity trade. The papers are to be readied by July 2011.

While a transmission link with Bhutan is already in place, there are plans to spruce up the existing line to enable up to 5,000 MW of electricity imports into India by 2020. In Nepal, Indian firms including the GMR Group and State-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam are setting up hydroelectric stations, while power trading major PTC India Ltd has signed pacts to wheel power from two other projects.

With Sri Lanka, plans are already under way for setting up a $450-million undersea power transmission link. The 200-km submarine cable is likely to be set up with a capacity to wheel around 1,000 MW of electricity and State-owned Power Grid Corporation is slated to execute the project. In Bangladesh, state-owned power major NTPC Ltd has signed a preliminary pact to set up a 1,320 MW coal-based power plant subject to techno-economic viability, while a cross-border transmission link is also in the works.

The ADB had earlier sponsored a SAARC Regional Energy Trade Study, which recommended an Energy Charter Treaty. Under this, SAARC members were required to open up their energy sectors for foreign investments and also comply with the WTO framework with regard to the duty structure on power equipment. These conditions were not acceptable to members, which led to the proposal getting a quiet burial.

Rahimafrooz to assemble solar panels soon

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=123530&date=2011-01-21
Rahimafrooz to assemble solar panels soon
Kamrun Nahar
Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd (RRE) is set to start production of the country’s first solar panel assembling plant in Dhaka to serve the domestic need with solar home systems as their demand increases gradually amid severe power crunch.
“The solar panel assembling plant of a yearly capacity of 18 megawatt with an investment of Tk 400 million (40 crore) at Ashulia will start production by next May-June as per our plan,” RRE General Manager Sohel Ahmed told the FE recently.
He said the country will be able to save foreign currency, consumers will get solar panels at a lower price and the power supply will be smoother once these are manufactured in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh intends to add five per cent of the total electricity from renewable energy sources by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020 to its power grid.
American company Spire Corporation will provide technological assistance in assembling solar photovoltaic manufacturing equipment, said Mr Ahmed, also head of business of RRE, a concern of Tk 15 billion Rahimafrooz Group.
Spire is the leading supplier in the design and manufacture of specialised equipment for producing photovoltaic solar modules, high quality photovoltaic systems and components.
“Spire will support us with their latest technology in manufacturing the best quality solar panels that we used to import at a higher cost than any other panels in the market. Now we will manufacture those panels in our plant with their technical knowledge, technology and support,” said Mr Ahmed.
At present most of the solar panels are imported from China the quality of which is not up to the mark all the time, said Mr Ahmed.
“That’s why we are importing state-of-the-art technology for manufacturing solar panels for the first time in Bangladesh,” he added.
The use of solar home systems has been increasing fast both in urban and the off-grid areas of rural Bangladesh backed by 22 to 24 NGOs that enjoy re-finance facility from state-run Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), which promotes renewable energy development.
RRE has been engaged in distributing solar systems for the last few years through its non-profit organisation Rural Services Foundation.