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The Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) and Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED) urged the State Minister of Power and parliamentary standing committees to cancel the Integrated Energy and Power Sector Master Plan (IEPMP) proposed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) as it is harmful to the economy of Bangladesh, disastrous for the environment, contradicts Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP) and against the commitment of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The organizations demanded it in a Policy Brief on the proposed IEPMP today.
The Policy Brief reads that JICA and IEEJ did not consult with different sects of the society, including energy users and renewable energy promoters, in the formulation process. They organized two consultation meetings with the civil society representatives, but none of their opinions are reflected in the draft report. The consultants have not organized consultation meetings with the parliamentarians, particularly parliamentary standing committees on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Planning.
The Policy Brief also reads that the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP), approved by the cabinet, is committed to implementing 30% Renewable Energy by 2030, 40% by 2041 and 100% by 2050. During the UN Climate Conference, the Prime Minister echoed the target in December 2021. But the IEPMP proposed 30.7% fossil fuels (Coal and LNG), 32.8% so-called Advanced Technology (liquid hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture & storage) and only 17.1% Renewables by 2050. This proposition is totally against the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan and the commitment of the Prime Minister.
Bangladesh spends around BDT 40,000 crore from foreign currency reserves to import LNG and BDT 25,000 crore to import coal annually. Besides, BDT 23,000 will have to pay in FY 2022-23 as the capacity charge. In the alternative, renewable energy-based power plants do not have any capacity charges to pay. The proposed IEPMP will make Bangladesh dependable on fossil fuels and unproven technologies imported from the exporting countries. It will further weigh down the economy. On the other hand, Renewable energy can ensure energy security in Bangladesh and save foreign currency reserves.
The policy brief says the generation cost of fossil fuel-based power has been increasing by 12% while the cost of power from renewables is reducing by 10% annually. In FY 2021-22, the unit cost of power generated from diesel was taka 36.61, followed by furnace oil (tk. 16.86), coal (tk. 13.40) and solar power (tk. 13.30).
The organizations urged the Government to cancel the proposed IEPMP and formulate a nationally-owned long-term Energy and Power Master Plan involving local energy experts in line with the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan to ensure economic prosperity, energy security and climate responsibility.
Besides publication, the organizations submitted the Policy Brief to Nasrul Hamid, the State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MOPEMR), Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Hasanul Haq Inu, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information; Nahim Razzaq and Tanvir Shakil Joy, Convener and Chairperson of the Climate Parliament Bangladesh respectively, through email.