Experts at a recent policy roundtable called for scrapping unfair energy agreements, making greater use of domestic resources and reducing Bangladesh’s dependence on imported fuel to overcome the country’s energy crisis.
They also stressed expanding renewable energy, strengthening energy sovereignty and ensuring transparency and accountability in the energy sector.
The views came at a roundtable titled “Navigating the Energy Transition: Foreign Policy Alignment and Geopolitical Resilience” held at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka.
The Institute of Policy, Governance and Advocacy for Development (IPGAD) organized the event, moderated by its Executive Director Mostafa Hossain.
Professor Mushtaq Khan, an economist at SOAS University of London, said the current energy crisis should be viewed from two perspectives — short-term problems in energy supply and long-term structural and production-related problems.
Pointing to what he described as serious structural flaws, he said electricity generation capacity increased fourfold on paper during the Awami League government, while actual costs increased 11 times and capacity payments 20 times
