Energy efficiency of old power stations to be increased: PM

12 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Unb, Ashuganj

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government would take initiatives to increase the energy efficiency of the old power stations. The prime minister said this while she was inaugurating the 55-MW rental power plant at Sohagpur in Ashuganj under Brahmanbaria. She said new equipment would be imported and installed in the old power stations so that the power generation increased significantly with the existing supply of gas. “We believe in work, not in talk. Within the last one year, we've been successful in adding 800MW of electricity to the national grid and 1500 MW more will be added within the next 6/7 months,” she said. Local lawmaker Ziaul Huq Mridha and PDB chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir also spoke on the occasion. Hasina also underscored the need for continuation of the sensitive development projects, including the power projects, after the changes of government. She said if the BNP-Jamaat alliance government continued the projects that were taken by the previous AL government for power generation the country would not be facing the present severe condition of the power crisis. She directed the authorities of Ashuganj Power Station Company to start construction of one 150 MW and another 450 combined cycle power plant here and increase efficiency of the running units to increase power generation to 1500 MW. She asked the authorities to construct another 50MW power plant at the same place by this year. Observing that there is no alternative to electricity for achieving national development, Hasina said the last AL government had taken the total power generation capacity of the country to 5000MW. But the next BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance government did not add even a single MW of electricity to the national grid, which has resulted in the present power crisis across the country, she said. “They added not a single MW of power to the national grid while the demand for electricity was increasing at 8-10 percent every year.” The PM further directed the authorities to bring more agricultural lands under irrigation facilities with the used water available from the Ashuganj power station. She said her government has already taken steps to bring 500MW electricity from India in two phases (250+250). “We are also in negotiation to import electricity from Nepal and Bhutan,” she said. Hasina said BNP-Jamaat alliance government had earned thousands of crore taka by setting up Khamba (electric pole) only. She said the government has plans to modernise Ashuganj river port under the transit facility. She said once the plan is implemented, economic prosperity of Ashuganj and its adjacent areas will increase. Regarding problems faced by the local people, she said she is informed about the health hazards here. “An upazila health complex needs to be set up here. I am giving orders to health ministry to take steps in this regard,” she said, adding that her government plans to upgrade all district hospitals to 250-bed units. Ashuganj pourasabha The prime minister also announced that Ashuganj, which was upgraded to upazila from thana during the last Awami League government, will be upgraded to pourasabha this time. Hasina recalled the sacrifice of Muktibahini and Indian Mitra Bahini men, and said during the Liberation War Ashuganj was very much vital. She paid deep respect to the memories of these soldiers and prayed for the salvation of their departed souls. The PM also expressed her happiness that to keep the memories of the martyred souls alive, a monument will be erected here. She requested the local people to preserve all things that are related with the Liberation War for the next generations. “The next generation will need these to know the real history of our great war of independence,” she said. She blamed the governments, who came after August 15, 1975, for destroying the real history of the War of Liberation. Later, the prime minister formally inaugurated the power plant that cost Tk 300 crore. Precision Energy is will be the executing agency of the power plant. Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque, State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Captain (Retd) ABM Tazul Islam, AL Organising Secretary Ahmed Hossain, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, chairman of the standing committee on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Subid Ali Bhuiyan, Principal Secretary AMA Karim and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Abul Kalam Azad were present.