Since coal-powered power plants did not come to production on time, oil-based plants are getting priority.  As a result, controlling price is becoming difficult.

At present, 24 oil-based power plants are being constructed in the country. Energy specialist, Professor Shamsul Alam says, “Government has entered an agreement without considering the situation; oil-based power will cost more and the pressure will be on consumers.”

Saying that the government did not pay heed to the advice of experts to come out of this process, he added, “as long as this continues, price of power will rise and the masses will suffer.”

“This situation has been created for the benefit of the private business entities though PDB had earlier said that if they were given the chance the production cost would be lower.”

A senior PDB official told Bangla Tribune, “In 2009, a three-tier plan was adopted to tackle power crisis. Of this, as part of a short-term plan, rental and quick rental projects were taken. There was a plan to shut the oil based plants once the bigger plants came into production.”

However, since the bigger ones could not come to production on time, the oil-based plants cannot be shut down, he added.