Bangladesh gov’t urged to hasten near-term nuclear energy projects amid power crisis

Efforts being made after years of delay.

Amid Bangladesh’s power deficit and the government’s energy master plan to address the situation, it has been suggested that nuclear energy projects must be expedited in the near-term.

According to a research note from Standard Chartered, in the Bangladesh government’s energy master plan, c.4,000 MW of electricity generation is expected to come from nuclear energy from 2025 onwards, or c.10% of total electricity needs at that point.

Efforts must be made to build capacity as soon as possible, keeping in mind likely delays in implementation, the report said.

Bangladesh is now making efforts to expedite projects for nuclear energy generation, after years of delay.

The government first proposed the idea of building a nuclear power plant in the west of the country in 1961.

Here’s more from Standard Chartered:

The Rooppur site was selected in 1963, and government approval was given in 1980. After years of deliberation, work on the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (built in collaboration with Russia), began in October 2013.

This project is on the government’s fast-track priority infrastructure list, and should get special attention. Two plants are planned at the site, each with a capacity of 1,000MW, and the project is expected to be completed by 2022.

They will operate for 60 years, with an option to extend by another 20 years. Following the January elections, the Awami League (AL) government has expressed desire to build another 2,000MW nuclear plant in the south of the country.

Talks are reportedly on with Japan for this project. The government should treat this project as priority in order to meet its own targets for nuclear energy electricity generation over the coming years.

Given the limited foreseeable electricity generation from renewable and obvious challenges to domestic coal extraction, Bangladesh should aim to increase its current targets for nuclear energy-based electricity generation.

This has the potential to become a sustainable and long-term source of power.