PM for further review of draft coal policy

R Akter
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the energy division to further review the draft coal policy, especially of the possible impact of mining on the people and environment.
The energy officials at a meeting with the PM recommended open-pit mining of the north side of the Barapukuria coalfield in Dinajpur, but Hasina said that [...]

Bill puts in Parliament on gas trading

ET Report
The government Tuesday put forward a bill in parliament for commercial handling of gas extracted from Bangladesh territory, including its offshore blocks. The put new law, if passed, would allow commercial bodies to construct domestic pipelines in designated areas for transmission, distribution, supply and storage of gas subjected to licensing by the Energy Regulatory [...]

PM promises end to power crisis by 2011

Staff Correspondent
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday last said the country would get rid of power crisis by 2011 as 1,487MW of power will be generated and added to the national grid by then.
“Bangladesh will be self-sufficient in power by 2021 and 100 percent people of the country will get electricity facility according to the [...]

AES to sell stock, wind-power stake to CIC

ET Desk
AES Corp., the US power producer with operations in 29 countries, agreed to sell stock and a 35 percent stake in its wind-power business to China Investment Corp. for $2.2 billion to raise cash for expansion.
A CIC unit will buy 125.5 million in new shares for $12.60 each, or $1.58 billion, Arlington, Virginia-based AES [...]

$1b WB grants for power projects on condition of quickening reforms

ET Repot
The World Bank (WB) has agreed to extend financial assistance for 10 new power projects in Bangladesh with strings attached. The multilateral lender, in response to a request from the government to provide a loan of about $1.0 billion for the power projects to be set up mainly in southern and northern parts of [...]

Minister signals green after visiting German open-pit coal mining

Special Correspondent
The government on Monday requested Germany to assist Bangladesh to extract coal by the open-pit mining method. The commerce minister, Faruk Khan, called upon the German ambassador, Holger Michael, to provide some expert advice as the government is still in doubt about the possible impact of open-pit mining on the environment.

Holger met Faruk at [...]

Coal less costly power source, says Mohammad Enamul Haque

R.Akter
The State Minister for Power and Energy Mohammad Enamul Haque said recently in generation of electricity from diesel and furnace oil is very costly. He termed coal as the only option for generating electricity at low costs and emphasised the need for its immediate extraction. Power generation has reached a point where the economy is [...]

Power generation, transmission top priority: state minister

ET Report
State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Mohammad Enamul Haque told the parliament recently that the government’s first priority is power generation and transmission before going for expansion of the electricity network across the country.
He said that there is gap of 1,500 megawatt (MW) of electricity between production and distribution of power across [...]

Govt to fund extra Tk 1,000 crore for gas exploration

Energy adviser Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on Sunday said government had decided to provide Tk 1,000 crore, in addition to the budgetary allocation, for gas exploration.
Measures have been taken for exploring additional 200-300mmcft gas by the next two years, the adviser said while inaugurating the Onshore Gas Compression Project at Sangu Gas [...]

Private oil refining policy by Sept | BPC monopoly to remain intact

A Z M Anas
The government has started drafting a policy to allow private investors to refine oil and then sell in the domestic market on a limited scale, rolling back an earlier restrictive regulation, energy officials said Friday.If approved, the first Private Oil Refinery Establishment Policy-2009 will empower private refiners to export petroleum products, but [...]