Background on Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) controls the power sector in Bangladesh. This is done primarily through the Power Division and Power Cell, which were created in 1998 with a mandate of managing, regulating, and leading reforms in the power sector. Generation and distribution activities have been opened to foreign and private sector involvement, although both sectors remain dominated by state-owned entities.

In 1996 the government issued the "Private Sector Power Generation Policy of Bangladesh" and began to solicit proposals from independent power producers (IPPs) in hopes of easing the country’s electricity supply shortage. Several IPPs broke ground on new power stations after 1996, and more recently Bangladesh has attracted large investment proposals. In May 2005, U.S.-based Vulcan Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Bangladesh for the construction of $1.6 billion in gas, coal, and fertilizer projects that would bring an additional 1,800 MW in generating capacity online.

In addition to large IPP projects, in April 1998, Bangladesh adopted a "Small Power Generation Policy," which encourages development of small local generation projects of up to 10-MW in capacity in underserved areas. The country has an active rural electrification program, which is supported by the $280 million loan package from the ADB’s Power Sector Development Program (PSDP) initiated in 2003.

Apart from the above data, Alternative Power Generation Systems have been in great demand in the Bangladesh Industry and there remains a tremendous growth potential in this sector.

Bangladesh Power Data [Click to open the PDF file]