Advisor Fouzul calls businessmen, bureaucrats ‘obstacles’ to renewable energy

He says he would not import LNG if there were an alternative

Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan has called some businessmen in the power sector and some officials of the ministry the “only obstacle” in the transition to renewable energy.

He made the comments on Monday, the last day of the Bangladesh Energy Conference organised by the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED) at a Dhaka hotel.

The advisor to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said, “We have no choice but to rely on fossil fuels. We are doing this out of obligation. If there were another way, we would not have imported LNG.”

He said, “The only obstacle to moving from fossil fuel dependence to renewable energy is some businessmen in the power sector and some officials in the ministry. Even then, we want to go through a transformation.

“If we had the means today, we would have completely stopped importing LNG and closed these coal-based plants.

“But there is a demand for gas in the power and other industries, so we are forced to do this.”

Explaining why some people in the power sector do not want the development of renewable energy, the advisor said: “If there is fossil fuel dependence, the transaction benefits that we have with [government officials] will no longer exist.

“Fossil fuel businessmen and power sector employees have been involved in this."

He said, “People in this sector negotiate and make transactions as if the old system is still in place. Many projects were awarded without any tender before.

“Now we have issued new tenders for those projects, and as a result, the cost of electricity generation has fallen to around Tk 10 per unit.”

The government is providing tax exemption facilities to increase the production and use of solar energy, he added, saying: “When we go from a corrupt system to a corruption-free system, we face some natural obstacles. Even then, we will make this sector corruption-free.”

“If we stop importing LNG without making arrangements for renewable energy, the entire country will be covered in darkness, and the production and export of industries will be disrupted.”