The government will not give new electricity connection to any industry or house in the next two months, said Abdul Kalam Azad, secretary to Power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, yesterday.

“We did not give any new connection over the last four months because of power crisis. This decision will last for the next two months to minimise load shedding and meet the existing demand of electricity,” he said.

Azad was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural of a three-day long workshop on "Rural electrification through renewable energy: a sustainable model for replication in South Asia" jointly organised by Saarc Energy Centre and Grameen Shakti at a city hotel yesterday.

The country has been reeling under an increasing power crisis for the last several years. Presently it has turned acute and the country is experiencing hourly load shedding almost round the clock, Azad said.

The government has taken up dozens of power projects and a number of measures to conserve energy to ease the ever-increasing power demand, he added.

The secretary said the decision to suspend new power connection for six months is one such conservation measure.

Alongside such measures, the government is working hard to popularise the solar energy system in the country, he added.

Azad also stressed the need for coordinated efforts of all the

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organisations working for solar energy to make it popular to the people in the country.

Speaking as the special guest Anwar Hossain, vice chancellor of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, said the government should include a provision for the National Building Code to set up solar panel in every commercial and residential building.

He also described the workshop as torchbearer to all for making solar energy system popular not only in the country but also in South Asia.

Presenting an overview on rural electrification through solar power, Islam Sharif, executive director of Infrastructure Development Company, said over 4,23,000 units of Solar Home System have been installed in rural areas across the country.

The renewable energy sources such as Solar system, Bio-gas technology. Improved cooking stove save approximately Tk 260 crore per year.

Muhammad Pervaz, programme leader of Saarc Energy Centre, Abser Kamal, acting managing director of Grameen Shakti, its Senior Manager Fazley Rabbi and representatives from Saarc countries were, among others, present at the function.