|
Energy experts and business leaders at a roundtable called upon the government to provide policy and fiscal support to local entrepreneurs to enable them to produce energy-saving appliances like CFL bulbs. They said that saving energy by producing efficient electrical appliances that use less power should be a top priority at present because of the perennial power shortage in the country.
The Energy & Power magazine, in association with German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) arranged the roundtable on ‘Energy Efficiency: Third Fuel for Bangladesh’, at the capital’s CIDAP Auditorium.
Emphasizing energy saving through its efficient uses, the experts also stressed the need for setting up coal-based power stations in the northern part of the country to meet the increased power demand and ensure energy security.
Terming corruption and mismanagement as the major obstacle for setting up new power plants in public sector, they said the government should provide private sector with finance and other facilities to set up power plants to add more power to national grid.
They said other options for future energy security are solar, biomass, biogas, wind and hydropower, but the penetration of these renewable sources is low with the major barriers being financial, technical and social.
Stressing the need for strengthening the government's regulatory activities to monitor energy saving issues, they said the NGOs, working on renewable energy projects, often end up their projects due to discontinuation of funding, which ultimately brings no result.
The speakers also said the government should have a policy for efficient use of energy as well as encourage the local industries to set up power plants and add to the national grid, making the grid an 'energy super highway'.
Energy Advisor Tapan Chowdhury addressed the roundtable as chief guest. Journalist Farid Hossain moderated the discussion where Dr. Dr. Khursheed Ul- Islam of Senior Advisor, GTZ-SED presented the key-note paper. It was addressed by Professor Nurul Islam, BUET, Mi Nasir Hossain, President, FBCCI, Ijaz Hossain, BUET, Prof. Dr. S. Shahnawaz Ahmed, BUET, Dr. Anwar Hossain, Brig. Gen. Nazrul Hasan, DESA, Engr. Nurul Akther, Energypac, Christoph Isenmann, Kfw, Lt Colonel Moinuddin, MIST, KB Ahmed, Mohana Holdings, Dipal Barua, Grameen Shakti, BD Rahmatullah, REB, Mustafizur Rahman, Energy Audit Cell and Erich Otto Gomm Program Coordinator, GTZ-SED.
Tapan Chowdhury
If we can save about 720 to 800 MW electricity we would not have any load-shedding today in this country. Right now it is mentioned that the demand is 4500 MW. By the time we go back, I only hope that we can go for implementation some of the suggestions that we have here.
Grameen Shakti is doing very good job in rural areas but why not we are doing it for the multistoried building and people who can afford it? If you look at the energy they are consuming specially in the residence for water heating by the solar energy. So we like to have some proposals from the experts for the garments industry that we can do.
Our present proven gas reserve is around 13.5 TCF and what we are getting every day now around 1600 million mcf gas for using it for electricity, fertilizer, for domestic industrial use and also for CNG.
But the way our consumption is increasing, unless we don’t have new discovery, this current reserve will be exhausted probably 2015. Of course we know we need proper maintenance and we need to invest more, if we need to run this more efficiency to save gas. But at the same time we also have a lot of problems. We need to lot of investment also, unfortunately we are not doing so. The gas that currently we are using, 62 percent of that is for power. Today, we are using natural gas for 90 percent electricity and other sources like diesel or coal for 10 percent or less.
There being a debate about coal mining. But I don’t know whether it should be open cut or not. But now we should take a decision, this is very high time. Experts should make a good and firm decision. Unless we take a decision we face a serious problem and that is a disaster.
Fertilizer factory equipment is inefficient; they consume huge quantity of gas. Also generation plants old and huge consumption is there, it needs more investment to improve the situation. Kaptai plant also has big problem. So we should think about renewables, new source, like CFL, solar. So we should take decision today, not tomorrow.
Let’s come to the efficiency. In the develop country the efficiency level from the single cycle is 32-35 percent and combined cycle 45-48 percent. In our country efficiency is between 17-40 percent. So we can imagine the huge amount of gas that we are misusing but we can not change it overnight. So what is the alternative? Most of the people sitting here are working in this sector for a long time. They can give us some very good suggestions.
Dr. Khursheed Ul Islam
Growth rate is not static and growth demands power. We may reach in crisis by 2020 or around 2015, in fact we are already in a deficiency. After 2015, I put a question mark, what should be our action plan? I want to put a slogan “Save, converse drill and diversify.” We have to conserve, save, go with drilling activities and diversification. Also mix, not only gas, more accurately we have to shift from natural gas, diversify the monoculture. Why only natural energy mix? We should reduce our gas dependence. Over 90 percent of the power generation is coming from gas. Let’s mix it with coal. Bangladesh is fortunate, we have biomass resources but that is also managed optimally. Unless the resources management is there, a country even with the best resources remains poor. We can look all the developing and the third world countries, they are resourceful at the same time. But very unfortunate that the resource management is poor. I believe we don’t lack in the resources.
Now meet to long term crisis, there is coal resources. Bangladesh is fortunate that the ministry has rightly given due importance. Unfortunately our coal mine development is suffering from some difficulties. It is not the professional problem but management problem. We are still very hopeful that almost 2.8-3 billion tons of coal is in place. But expectable coal reserve is 700-800 million tons. Still we do have a lot. You just immediately can tell me coal is dirty fuel. Dirty fuel is in the present context. But again it depends on how we utilize, how we combust it.
There are many factors for clean coal technology, it is being developed and technology is not static. It’s improving. All varies on coal injection technologies, more partners are coming up, even oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shell they are developing this clean coal technology. Mean time we started conventional coal technology. We took off, we should go more and more.
Now concentrate on our subject. The demand side management (DSM) in the draft energy policy 2006 has identified efficiency is a fuel. Why? Because energy saving is equal to energy generation. What should be the major action plan? Energy policy 1995 states the need already. The new energy policy says efficiency is a fuel, highlights the necessity of implementing energy efficiency, measures renewable energy. These are the areas of diversification activity.
In late 70’s 70percent+ was biomass in Bangladesh. The energy now is at the 40-49 percent. Like solar, the cost here is very high, there is also oil politics in the world. When they realize the big potential of the solar, they had a beautiful thought. The sun rises at everybody’s compound. How to capitalize it? Let’s buy silicon ingots. These are the energy sources of tomorrow. And many people are categorizing renewable energy also as energy efficiency.
Opportunity for the energy efficiency we look at first & second sector is very interesting… domestic 43% of electric consumption, industrial also 44%. So these are the too high potential sector.
It is very conservative estimate that it would be 800-2000 MW saving by efficient uses. Many other may differ with me. Strategic action plan is required. For institutional policies, legal framework there has to be energy consumption and efficiency act.
If we are not saving energy we are not making profit. So if one is not making energy saving, or not adopting saving measure he should punished. In India they adopted this and they passed the legal framework act. So why we can’t? Legal institutional policy already is there in place. At least one new is coming up.
Capacity building involves private sector with initiative in India where crores of taka worth of incentives are given to the private sector to save energy. We are starting up very soon in Bangladesh. Let’s make successful the CFL project. The pilot project has already started.
I heard about the growth of CFL pilot project. I hope we can reduce at least few hundred megawatt.
Professor Nurul Islam
Probably a parameter which is missing all the discussion is the energy tariff and the price we pay. We did not discuss it at all. In Bangladesh, in my judgment the energy tariff is not at all in any body’s business. It is the whim of the government politically when they find it convenient they declare it, if they don’t find it convenient they don’t do it. Metering and tariff come hand in hand and the consumers will have to be ready to pay. And, the energy conservation there is an investment, I take it from my own life that I like to keep my electric bill maximum at Tk 1,500. When I found that it is going beyond that I change my whole home incandescent lamp into tube and than when I find that it is going up than I change it to CFL lamp. So this is the question of reality that you have to pay from your pocket, it will be your first fuel because of the fact.
Mir Nasir Hossain
The government should frame a policy for efficient use of energy as well as encourage the local industries to produce energy-saving bulbs and tube-lights. The government should allow the private sector to set up power plants to augment the national grid, making the grid an ‘energy super highway’. The energy sector should be privatized. You know the worst victims of the power crisis are the small and medium enterprises.
Ijaz Hossain
Energy Efficiency has nowadays become the cornerstone of sustainable development. Despite that it still invokes feelings of skepticism amongst industrialists. That energy efficiency can be a profitable option is not known to many. Energy efficiency in the context of Bangladesh can play the following vital roles:
1. Help conserved valuable energy resources (fuels)
2. Make the industries more profitable, or at least better managed
3. Decrease the load on utilities for supplying energy
4. Save foreign currency
The looming electricity crisis would be alleviated if energy efficiency can be done in a serious manner. For example, the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) can save up to 80% electricity. Interestingly, in Cuba incandescent lamps have been banned, and CFLs are now the only lighting option. The beauty of CFLs is that being a device that is used 90% of the time during the peak electricity demand period (5 to 11 pm) means that load shedding can be greatly minimized.
In the gas sector the scope of Cogeneration is very large because more than 1500 mw of gas driven electricity generators are operating in industries. The waste heat (60% of the total heat) is being wasted. If prudent process design concept is followed then this waste heat can be fruitfully utilized. In the earlier days, centralized power generation prevented such utilization because the availability of waste heat was far from the demand centre. For example, if two industries, one requiring a lot of heat, and one requiring a lot of electricity are situated next to each other, then through waste heat utilization the total primary energy requirement can be halved.
Energy Efficiency are of three types, namely: 1. Win-Win options (IRR>>MARR), 2. Marginal Options (IRR>MARR), 3. Investment Additionally Options (IRR<MARR)
There are numerous win-win options in Bangladesh, including replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs, industrial cogeneration; boiler retrofit and process change (e.g. Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln to replace existing traditional Fixed Chimney Kiln). However, there are numerous barriers to the implementations. The Government should carefully look into policy changes that can assist energy efficiency. Win-Win options can easily be implemented through equity financing if the barriers are removed.
Energy efficiency projects such as rehabilitation of power plants, efficient motors, efficient air-conditioners, building design to conserve cooling and commercial cogeneration are marginal options. These options are difficult to implement and would therefore require some sort of a driving force. This GTZ program can be a good driving force. The Government should extend all support to this program. These projects can be funded through a combination of equity and low-cost investment funds from special banks.
Energy efficiency projects which cannot recover the investment cost may appear to be a lost cause in Bangladesh, but that is not so because of carbon financing. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol allows Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to seek financing for energy efficiency projects which satisfy the so called investment additionally, i.e., IRR<MARR.
What exactly is CDM? in 1997 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol agreed to allow developed countries to meet some of their commitments to reduce GHG emission by investing in GHG reducing projects in developing countries. Thus CDM allows developing country entrepreneurs and others to get investment fund for doing projects, which reduce GHG. Two things are important in CDM namely.
1. The project proponent must prove that the activity (hence the GHG reduction) would not have occurred in the absence of the CDM project. That is the emission in the baseline would have continued as in the business as usual scenario. 2. The project must promote sustainable development.
How can CDM help Private Sector in Bangladesh? Developing countries including Bangladesh in the process of achieving fast economic growth often have to settle for inferior technologies. These technologies more often than not consume more energy than state of the art or advanced technologies. CDM allows a more energy efficient (or less GHG emitting) technology to be installed. Through CDM therefore an entrepreneur can:
· Opt for a better technology resulting in cost savings
· Be able to comply easily with the Department of Environment’s regulations
· Have a safer and cleaner plant
· Contribute to national sustainable development and to global environmental protection
Energy Efficiency (EE) has very little chance of success without an enabling environment. The following is a list of some of those: 1. Rationalized energy process low prices can never favor EE, 2. Proper collection of bills corruption is more profitable than EE, 3. Enforcement of environmental standards, 4. Discouragement of inefficient devices, 5. Incentives for efficient devices, 6. Rationalized tax structures based on the above two points
Prof. Dr. S. Shahnawaz Ahmed
It is very much commendable that the presenter has addressed a timely issue i.e. energy efficiency although many awareness raising seminars on it have
been held since the last decade and some actions are also underway. Also interesting is his labeling the “energy efficiency” as the 3rd fuel” next to gas, coal in Bangladesh perspectives.
However, this discussant likes to raise some of the key points as follows for active consideration and implementation by the all concerned including the policy makers and the donors in the power and energy sector of Bangladesh. 1. The method for estimating energy saving potentials in domestic, commercial and industrial areas from various electrical engineering solutions (e.g. use of energy efficient lights, intelligent motor controls and power factor improvement plants) has not been given by the presenter in his slide No. 9. Indeed, a realistic and scientific estimation based on many engineering judgments by a team of local academic and professional experts is the demand of the time. 2. Other electrical engineering solutions should also be investigated to improve overall energy efficiency of the country’s power sector. Some of these are use of oversized cables in electrical wiring, requisite sized (i.e. neither under nor over size) motors, programmable thermostats for cooling loads (refrigerators and room/central air conditioners) at the demand side (i.e. consumers’ premises) and use of energy efficient (i.e. low loss and advanced technology) generators and transformers at the utility side. 3. The saving of energy by using energy efficient lights and motors will be marred due to unavoidable harmonies (multiples of the 50 Hertz supply frequency in our country) produced by those resulting in overheating, higher losses and damages in the supply side equipment (generator, transformers and lines/cables) and crushing the memory and micro controllers in the digital equipment at the consumer side. So it is a must to have a detailed technical study made by the local experts to design appropriate filtering devices, their sizes and locations in the system. Test setups need to be developed at local institutions with sponsorship from the stakeholders to verify the performance of all the energy efficient lamps and motors that are flooding the local market so that consumers are not deceived.
Dr. Anwar Hossain
60% of the rural people use traditional fuel, biomass. This is also environment friendly. Poultry industry can be a source of renewable energy. Solar power is high cost. Hospital, hotel, high rise building can use solar power. In Bangladesh, wind speed is low. So wind power can mix with diesel. Energy like gas should be used directly like household uses, fertilizer, not generate power. Coal can be used in modern process. System lose should prevent, energy audit strengthened. DSM method can also work
Brig. Gen. Nazrul Hasan
I will not go in details about the technical aspect or anything which is beyond my capacity or beyond my jurisdiction. As a Chairman of DESA last one year what I have observed? What experience I have gathered and what is the immediate solution to face the challenges, to face the problem I will give you that sort of idea. As many of us discuss about first fuel, second fuel, I have got a different idea as a distributing agent, or as a distributing organization. Day to day I am facing demand of energy. I am facing the customers, I am facing the excited people, I am facing the angry people so I know what is their pulse is. I know what is their requirement. I know how to manage them. I know how to deal with these problems.
As the subject we said energy efficiency, the term energy saving also comes in. From DESA side I want to emphasize how we are managing this less electricity or shortage electricity day to day. At present if you consider about the Dhaka zone its demand is 1900 MW, but we are receiving only 1300 to 1400MW. So how to manage this 500 MW? Only solution is to make load shedding, we have to find out the ways. So to manage load shedding of 500MW, it is very difficult task. And it will be really great problem. So we took some major tasks to reduce the load shedding... adjusting the holidays, restriction on some factories in peak hours, and the government has taken some decisions about closing the shops at 8’clock. From this management, we got around 200 WM, so still the shortfall is 300 MW. How to manage it?
Now comes the efficiency and saving. Load management is not savings. Te saving is in terms of efficiency. DESA took some initiative to motivate the people to use the efficient bulbs, to use the electronic ballast instead of magnetic ballast. By that we can reduce some consumption and improve the load shedding situation. We have some statistics if we go for this efficiency bulb, efficiency equipment by replacing bulbs and increasing efficiency of tube lights, we can save 200 MW only in Dhaka zone. So I call it Save Back Generation. So, the ‘Third Fuel’ in DESA is the Save Back Generation.
This is the time to take decision as my friend Dr. Ijaj Ahmed said who will hang the bell to cat. I said to I’m the man who is going to do this thing. We have begun the work, we need your assistance, we need your suggestions, and your cooperation too. So Inshallah with the assistance of you we will able to add some generation.
Engr. Nurul Akther
Affordable tariff should be maintained, tax policy may change. Import policy should ensure quality control and measure standard. We have no lab for testing CFL or electronic ballast. BSTI should be equipped. BERC can ensure tariff, tax, quality and standard. CFL bulb high cost can recover after three months. Buyer can think about it.
Christoph Isenmann
I can only support the keynote speaker said in the beginning of the event today. That’s huge potential of energy saving by increasing energy efficiency in Bangladesh. But I believe that figure which was given in the beginning may not be yet fully include potential of saving in the generation, transmission and distribution areas. In distribution, if improved metering and prepaid metering is taken into consideration, the figure would be more.
Lt Colonel Moinuddin
In our country maximum 30% of the people have access to electricity with the per capita consumption of maximum 170KW per hour. It is very poor if we consider our neighbor India, its consumption is 5 times, Pakistan 3.5 times and Sri Lanka 2.5 times. Then we see we have some disparities. About 90% or 85% electricity is being produced in eastern zone, Western zone generate only 15% although the population there is 45%.
I do agree with BD Rahmatullah that we have policy, we have everything but we are lacking in our mental setup. To generate one unit of electricity by burning diesel, kerosene or furnace oil we need about 15 Taka, while for gas it is only 0.85 Taka. Therefore we need to think at this moment, definitely we have to think to generate our energy from coal reserves in the northern zone, so that we can remove this disparities.
Now I have to talk about our energy conservation. We could generate in the previous years at the maximum of 2,800 MW or 3,000 MW; but this year on 24 August the maximum generation was 3900. So, if we have good intention, we can generate, we can maintain well, and we can go for generation as quick as possible time. That is the example that we can produce maximum that means we could conserve more.
As we have heard about the gas limitation of ours it will continue maximum 10 years more. We have to look for nuclear energy or we have to look for coal based because we would not have option for hydro, or we would not option for solar or wind turbines.
I have some recommendations regarding you people have been talking about. CFL lamps, yes its efficiency is fine, but we need some time bound action plan. We talked enough, but now we want implementation. Many countries of the world have already banned the in incandescent lamps. So we can go for that. We can reduce tax and duties for CFL.
We have huge long pending bills. We have to do something that we can recover from our pending bills. We can find some moralities so that long pending cases can be solved. We have forthcoming irrigation season, we can take some programs to serve our farmers uninterrupted electricity.
KB Ahmed
The third fuel should be the Govt. of Bangladesh’s action, nothing else. We have no energy problem, we have no gas problem, we have no other problem, other than actions to be taken by the Govt. of Bangladesh. We should look back in the 70’s, what happened to the UK? Exactly same situation is here. Inefficiency with corruption and a political instability. Then Margaret Thatcher came in for which that county is now one of the most developed and possibly most efficient country in Europe. Particularly in energy sector, what did they, they sold gas fields, sold and privatize the energy generation. They even sold British Airways. They didn’t care because they wanted more efficiency.
As long as Govt. of Bangladesh monopolies on particular sector there can’t be any development. Energy sector, this must be given to the business and business will bring in technology, bring in all the experts together.
Dipal Barua
We started just late, but I think Bangladesh has a lot of potential. We lacked in management efficiency and attention. Recently the government gave a tax exemption in the solar panel import. One institution is calling for little bit subsidy, but another institution is coming for taxing. So I think if you discuss something, even the Minister is present, you don’t get the result because there is no real coordination.
BD Rahmatullah
I differ with the keynote speaker’s presentation mentioning that it is the 3rd fuel, I want to mention it should be called the 1st fuel. Why? I have some reasons. We have installed capacity around 5200 MW, that it is an incomplete data. This year we could generate only at best 3800 MW and the demand is around 5500 MW. In our generation capacity, there are many terminology… generation capability, installed capability, formal capability, whatever it is, now we are running at 3,500 MW average. So there is clear shortage at 1500 mw. Why this gap? I will tell you that Bangladesh is the only country who have not given any importance to energy efficiency and conservation of energy.
I am going through human development index published recently by UNDP. It’s very unfortunate that even Nepal and Bhutan has gone up as per the ranking of a SDI. We find your position on 137th out of 171 and after Bangladesh all the African countries are there. So we are not far better then the African countries. Why this? Because we don’t have any mission any vision and I think private people, professors they should speak about the main barriers which is corruption and inefficiency.
Some think why they will take the interest in terms of efficiency and conservation because they don’t get money out of that. On the other hand, a big project gives money and that happened in last 5 years. During the period, people were running after big projects because big commission is over there.
I submitted the draft of renewable policy in 1996, still it is in the desk of the Minister. Had the policy been come into light, there would have a lot of incentives and we could produce 2000 MW out of renewable energy. I can tell you with confidence because in India, now they are producing 6000 MW from their renewable sources. Why we cannot do?
Mustafizur Rahman
We are always talking about only power and power, we have two aspects of use of energy… first the primary energy and the secondary energy which is electricity. In the primary energy consumption aspect, you see we audited different type of industries. In poor industries, all boilers are running with inefficiency, even the most modern boiler which is packaged properly and has all the instrumentation, but only because of adjustment problem, time to time maintenance problem, it is not operating with efficiency.
Even well instrumented industries are running inefficiently, we studied and saw that there are 10 to 15 areas identified where efficiency should and can be maintained properly.
All boilers are inefficient. Maintenance can save 50% power. Re-rolling furnace can save 30-35%, fertilizer factory save 3-4% more power.
Last month I visited Fenchuganj power station. I saw that steam cycle generation was producing only 10MW, which has 30MW capacity. I saw the steam cycle equipment very frequently is out of order, so the gas turbine is running on simple cycle.
Erich Otto Gomm
What I have seen in last three years that lot of initiatives have been taken successfully. We don’t manage to cover the whole rural houses cook stoves by solar home system, obviously it takes time but if you look at solar home system as for example Bangladesh is leading the world, developing world. There is a success story which is really home grown, base on local development concept. Same will happen if we improve the source.
Many things are happening to energy efficiency improvement. We are going to work with DESA on a demonstration project to replace 30 thousand over incandescent bulb to CFL. It’s not a big deal, just we have to put our hands together. And then we come to the low cost measure. We have boilers replace and replace those with efficiency. We are working about this.
Bangladesh and German governments have been agreed few years back to work together on promotion of renewable energy and we have worked together on energy efficiency improvement. And we are working from KfW, and we are financing from FM Germany and GTZ from our side. But what I see here, we have lot of potential and lot of active players and lot of initiative, I think we have problems in our hands but we have available solution also. And I am sure that we have a bright future not only in terms of light. |