Cleaner energy could save Bangladesh from the cost of gas imports

New gas prices for power generation led to an additional US$0.083 per cubic metre. 

Increasing renewable energy sources could reduce the cost Bangladesh shoulders from importing gas for power generation, an analyst said.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) noted that on top of the high fossil fuel costs, the price of electricity was increased twice by 5% within 20 days in January 2023. The government also increased gas prices to 179% for different sectors.. 

“The rapidly rising average cost of electricity generation in the country makes a compelling economic case for Bangladesh to enhance deflationary renewable energy at the grid scale to rein in the soaring power generation costs and contain the challenges of imported fossil fuels,” Shafiqul Alam, Energy Finance Analyst for Bangladesh, IEEFA, said.

Read more: Bangladesh pivots to coal amidst renewables challenges

“Alongside this, energy efficiency measures on the demand side would reduce significant energy consumption and thus cut down on imported LNG, coal and oil. High energy prices also demonstrate the strong financial viability of energy efficiency interventions.”  

On this note, Alam raised that direct capital investments of the government and private sector should be earmarked for renewable energy and energy efficiency, which will likely have immediate impact on Bangladesh’s energy and power system.