Fireworks will light up the night sky during a festival of lights in Dhaka on Friday to celebrate the attainment of 20,000 megawatt power generation capacity.
State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid will inaugurate the show at the Gulshan-end of Hatirjheel.
Fireworks and lighting show will be also held at Dhaka’s Sadarghat and Bashundhara Residential Area.
In 2016, the government organised a similar celebration when power generation capacity reached 10,000 megawatt.
The power generation capacity of 124 plants across Bangladesh now stands at 17,043 MW, Power Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus told Bangla Tribune.
The captive power plants add another 2,800 MW to the national grid while renewable energy sources contribute nearly another 290 MW, which adds up to 20, 133 MW, he said.
“When the incumbent government took office in 2009, power generation was only at 4,942 MW, which has now been upgraded to 20,000 MW. It’s remarkable achievement within only 10 years,” State Minister Nasrul Hamid said.
This year's Power and Energy Week, a fair on electricity equipment and associated businesses with a theme of Anirban Agami (Indomitable Future), kicked off Thursday in Dhaka's Bashundhara Convention Centre.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the power and energy week and reiterated her government's commitment to providing electricity to every household. She called upon the people to maintain austerity in using power in their houses and workplaces to achieve the goal.
Bangladesh's power generation capacity has now reached 20,000 MW with the total number of consumers exceeding 30 million from 18 million about 10 years ago, Hasina said.
The Bangladesh government plans to generate 60,000 MW electricity by 2041, 40,000 MW by 2030 and 24,000 MW by 2021.
The number of people having access to electricity was only 47 percent in 2009, which now surged to 90 percent, and per capita power consumption rose to 464 KWh from 220 KWh in 2009.