BPDB Will Turn Around Subject To Getting Freedom

If given the freedom to work independently as an autonomous organization under well-defined rules and procedures, the power companies will develop into self-sustained, financially affluent organizations within a few years.

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The present chaos and crisis in the power sector results from too much bureaucratic control and imposing decisions from outside. The distribution utilities suffered losses because the previous government decided to curtail the authority of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to fix the power tariffs. The BERC must now review the situation and restructure the power tariffs. Managing the increased power demand of the ensuing summer should not be a major problem if the government can relieve state-owned power and energy sector enterprises from the huge overdue debt burden to a comfortable level.

Engr. Md. Kausar Ameer Ali, former Managing Director of DESCO, said this in an exclusive interview with Mollah Amzad Hossain, Editor of Energy & Power Magazine.

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) cannot recover its losses despite the government providing a subsidy of Tk 41,000 crore. There are huge outstanding payments for electricity and fuel. In such a situation, what is the major challenge of the power sector in 2025?

There are a few challenges for Bangladesh's Power sector in 2025. The main challenge is ensuring a sustainable supply of power as per demand. To facilitate these, the outstanding debt payment obligations of the state-owned power and energy companies need to be reduced. Fuel supply management needs to be made much more efficient to reduce the cost of generation. At the same time, there is no alternative to rationalizing power tariffs. Keeping all the development and operational activities of the power sector on course, initiatives must be launched for minimizing losses. Austerity and demand-side management must be given due priority. In my opinion, meeting the power demand of Irrigation, Ramadan, and summer peak is a real challenge. With well-coordinated work, I believe, the challenge is manageable.