DHAKA: Bangladesh is pinning hopes on cooperation with the UAE to overcome an ongoing energy crisis, officials have told Arab News following recent talks between the Bangladeshi premier and the Gulf state’s minister of technology.
UAE Industry and Advanced Technology Minister Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber visited Dhaka last week for talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet members.
Hasina’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim said she discussed with Al-Jaber the potential of UAE projects to increase the country’s power generation.
“Our prime minister requested them to come up with investments in the energy sector, and the UAE minister spoke very positively on this issue,” he told Arab News.
Two delegations from the UAE are expected to visit Bangladesh in the next few weeks to explore the opportunities.
“The UAE is interested in building energy cooperation with Bangladesh in both conventional and non-conventional energy sectors,” Karim said. “It will help Bangladesh a lot in addressing the energy crisis.”
Heavily reliant on energy imports, Bangladesh has been grappling with power cuts resulting from a fuel shortage, especially since the increase in oil prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
PetroBangla, the national gas company of Bangladesh, was investigating the possibility of buying liquid hydrocarbons from the UAE to help alleviate energy shortages immediately.
“We have an energy crisis in Bangladesh. Currently, we are importing liquefied natural gas mainly from Qatar and Oman. We have a huge demand for LNG. So, our energy cooperation with the UAE can be established in the LNG sector also,” said Tajul Islam Mazumder, PetroBangla’s general manager.
“It will be definitely good for our country.”
For long-term prospects, Bangladesh could tap into the UAE’s expertise, financing and know-how for producing clean power.
A major oil-producing nation, the UAE is rapidly expanding the use of clean energy and has been heavily investing in developing low-emission hydrogen fuel, infrastructure for electric vehicles, solar plants and other projects supporting energy transition.
Prof. Shamsul Alam from Daffodil University and energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh said that solar and wind-generated energy could contribute even 80 gigawatts to the country’s grid.
For comparison, a typical nuclear reactor produces around 1 GW of power.
“We need to prepare proper policies to receive foreign investments in the renewable energy sector. We have to offer the investors a feasibility of their investment,” Alam told Arab News.
“According to a study conducted by the US Agency for International Development, we have a prospect of producing 50,000 megawatts of solar energy through rooftop solar panels, and from wind sources there can be another 30,000 MW.”
