Electricity Crisis in Bangladesh
Abstract
Bangladesh is a densely populated country. Only a small part of her area is electrified which covers around 18% of total population. The people who are in the electrified area are suffering from severe load shedding. A systematic load management procedure related to demand side may improve the situation. The major objectives served by this article are to analyze contemporary electricity status with a view to drawing inference about demand supply gap and extracting benefits from load management. Data supplied by the Bangladesh Power Development Board and World Bank are analyzed. Analysis discloses that with properly managed uses of electricity with load switch and rotational week-end can improve the concurrent condition of electricity. Moreover, introducing smart distribution system, reducing system loss, shifting load to off-peak, large scale use of prepaid meter, observing energy week and using energy efficient home and office appliance are recommended to improve load situation through demand side management. Some other recommendations such as introducing alternative energy, public private partnership (ppp) and using renewable energy development and producing energy locally are made for load management from the supply side. Keywords: Load Management, Electricity, Load Switch, PPP, Energy Crisis Introduction
Bangladesh is a country endowed with huge natural resources. There are lots of sources of energy from the nature. Electricity is a type of converted energy from another form of energy. According to Global Energy Network Institute, Bangladesh has small reserves of oil and coal, but potentially very large natural gas resources. Commercial energy consumption is around 71% natural gas, with the remainder almost entirely oil (plus limited amounts of hydropower and coal). Only around 18% of the population (25% in urban areas and 10% in rural areas) has access to electricity, and per capita commercial energy consumption is among the lowest in the
Bangladesh is a densely populated country. Only a small part of her area is electrified which covers around 18% of total population. The people who are in the electrified area are suffering from severe load shedding. A systematic load management procedure related to demand side may improve the situation. The major objectives served by this article are to analyze contemporary electricity status with a view to drawing inference about demand supply gap and extracting benefits from load management. Data supplied by the Bangladesh Power Development Board and World Bank are analyzed. Analysis discloses that with properly managed uses of electricity with load switch and rotational week-end can improve the concurrent condition of electricity. Moreover, introducing smart distribution system, reducing system loss, shifting load to off-peak, large scale use of prepaid meter, observing energy week and using energy efficient home and office appliance are recommended to improve load situation through demand side management. Some other recommendations such as introducing alternative energy, public private partnership (ppp) and using renewable energy development and producing energy locally are made for load management from the supply side. Keywords: Load Management, Electricity, Load Switch, PPP, Energy Crisis Introduction
Bangladesh is a country endowed with huge natural resources. There are lots of sources of energy from the nature. Electricity is a type of converted energy from another form of energy. According to Global Energy Network Institute, Bangladesh has small reserves of oil and coal, but potentially very large natural gas resources. Commercial energy consumption is around 71% natural gas, with the remainder almost entirely oil (plus limited amounts of hydropower and coal). Only around 18% of the population (25% in urban areas and 10% in rural areas) has access to electricity, and per capita commercial energy consumption is among the lowest in the
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