Power, Energy and Mineral Resources State Minister Anindya Islam Amit said he expects the country’s power and energy situation to improve significantly within the next two weeks. He said the gas supply system has already been roughly 88% restored, with efforts underway to normalize the remaining 12% quickly.
The state minister made the comments at a press conference Thursday at the Secretariat.
Expressing regret over the hardship people are facing because of the current power and energy situation, Anindya Islam Amit said: “We share the people’s pain in this situation.” He said significant improvement is expected within the next two weeks.
He said gas supply has not fully normalized even after repairing a damaged floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU). About 88% of the supply system has been restored so far, he said, with efforts underway to normalize the remaining 12% quickly.
On the power situation, the state minister said two units at the Payra power plant are currently offline for maintenance, and a unit at the Rampal power plant is also not operating at full capacity.
He said rough seas in the Bay of Bengal have prevented coal-carrying lighter vessels from reaching the power plants. Once weather conditions normalize, he said, coal supply will become easier, allowing the Payra and Rampal plants to return to full production capacity.
He said that once the Payra and Rampal plants reach full capacity and the energy supply system normalizes, it will have a positive effect on the power sector, easing power-related hardship for industry and households.
The state minister said heavy rain has also caused some problems at Adani’s power plant. However, the government expects significant improvement in the power and energy situation after Sept. 15.
At the press conference, Anindya Islam Amit also announced an initiative to build a second unit at the Eastern Refinery. He said the project will be carried out with $1 billion in financing from the Islamic Development Bank. An agreement on the project was expected to be signed Thursday afternoon in the presence of the prime minister.
He said the project would triple the country’s crude oil refining capacity once completed, allowing roughly 4.5 million metric tons of crude oil to be refined annually. That would meet more than 50% of the country’s total energy demand and play an important role in energy security.
According to the development project proposal (DPP), the project is scheduled to become operational in 2030, though the state minister said efforts would be made to finish ahead of schedule.