STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The interim government has followed the wrong practices of the ousted Awami League government in preparing the master plan for the power and energy sector, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Preparing the masterplan should have had the involvement of local energy experts following research-based methods on decision-making, and it should have been done through an open and democratic process.

“But nothing happened -- it has become another bureaucracy-driven plan which doesn’t match the energy sector goals mentioned in other policy papers,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at CPD, at a press briefing titled Quick Reaction on Interim Government’s Energy and Power Sector Master Plan (2026-50).

On January 7, Fouzul Kabir Khan, the adviser to the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, submitted the draft plan to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. The ministry is yet to unveil the draft, saying it may be disclosed after Yunus’s signing.

The newly proposed draft masterplan has failed to address, accommodate and answer the criticisms, concerns and questions raised in the previous Integrated Master Plan of 2023, said Helen Mashiyat Preoty, senior research associate at CPD, while presenting the keynote paper.

The emergence of domestic coal, intensified LNG needs and reluctance towards renewable energy expansion raise serious concerns.

“In no way should the existing version of the draft masterplan be approved without major revision. The draft version is no better than the previous one, and in some cases, it might prove to be more degrading,” she added.

The CPD said the draft plan estimated the future power demand based solely on the GDP growth rate and set it at 59,351 megawatts for 2050.

At present, local and imported natural gas dominates the fuel mix with a 45 percent share; in 2050, it will be brought down to 29 percent in 2050, while generation from coal would be doubled by then, the CPD said, quoting the draft plan.

Though the plan will reduce electricity The The

SEE PAGE 8 COL 1