Some 81 power stations with a generation capacity of 10,353 megawatts (MW) have been set up during the last eight years with a view to materializing the Vision-2021."The government has undertaken steps to make the country self-reliant in power production and the generation capacity reached to 15,295 MW. Presently 78 per cent people of the country have their access to electricity usage," Director General (DG) of Power Cell under Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Engineer Mohammad Hossain told BSS.He said the government has earmarked to bring some 465 out of 486 upazilas of the country under power coverage by 2018 to fulfill its commitment to bring all people under electricity facilities by 2021.Hossain said the government under the bold and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina constructed 81 power stations, gave 1,35,000 kilometer new distribution line and increased capacity of grid sub-station to 10,820 MVA during the last eight years. Per capita power generation capacity now reached to 407 kwh."We have celebrated the achievement of 15,000 MW of power generation capacity this month. The government is working to ensure uninterrupted power supply for all by 2021 through integrated development of power generation, transmission and distribution system," the DG added.According to a ministry official, the number of electricity users reached to 2,32,00000, while the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) made a commitment to provide 30 lakh new electricity connections by 2016-17, as it provided power connections to 30 lakh houses in 2015-16.The BREB has been working to achieve its target to bring 465 upazilas under electricity coverage by 2018. As part of the BREB`s target, some 34 upazilas have already been brought under the electricity coverage this year, while, 144 upazilas would get cent percent power supply by 2017 and 287 upazilas by 2018, he said.The official said the government augmented generation of power, expanded transmission lines, distribution lines and improved capacity of other sectors to further raise the economic growth up to Bangladesh`s becoming a middle income country by 2021.Besides, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has taken a massive capacity expansion plan to add about 11,600 MW generation capacity in next 5 years to achieve 24,000 MW capacity with the aim of providing electricity to all the people of the country for desired economic and social development.
Source : BSS