B’desh seeks nuclear option to boost energy supply

Bangladesh plans to set up a nuclear plant to produce between 600 and 1,000 megawatts of power to ease the country’s nagging energy shortage, a senior energy official said on Monday.

The project, which may cost up to $1.5 billion, will be submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by the middle of next month for technical assistance, and aims to produce power by 2015, he said.
Bangladesh might face a severe power crisis after 2011, when its gas reserves are likely to be exhausted fully, unless new gas fields are discovered and explored, government officials said.

At present, Bangladesh has 13.54 trillion cubic feet of proven and recoverable gas reserves, they said.

Bangladesh’s power shortfall sometime soared to 2,000 mw, as the power generation came down to 3,000 mw against the demand of about 5,000 mw, due to mechanical troubles in most of the 60 decades-old power plants.

Reuters