Bangladesh is waiting for a response from Brunei regarding its request to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to mitigate the country's ongoing energy crunch.
"We have placed our demand … we hope they will inform us of their decision soon," State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said on Thursday.
He was replying to a question on power load-shedding following a policy dialogue titled "Bangladesh's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Goal and Energy Sustainability".
Oxfam Bangladesh in partnership with the European Climate Foundation (ECF) organised the meeting at BRAC Centre Inn in the city's Mohakhali area.
Mr Hamid said the power situation might improve next month (November) amid reduced demand.
"Load-shedding is temporary; who knew beforehand that the Russia-Ukraine war will increase the prices of fuel," he said, adding: "Despite fuel price hike, we couldn't raise power tariff at consumer level like that of the European countries."
Bangladesh and Brunei signed a MoU for long-term collaboration in the energy sector, particularly in the supply of LNG and other petroleum products to Bangladesh.
The MoU was signed during a three-day official visit of Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah in Dhaka from October 15 to 17.
Regarding the recent grid failure, Mr Hamid said the power distribution companies have sought a bit more time to prepare the investigation report on the grid failure.
He expressed the hope to get the report by next week, and said: "We will take action against the people responsible for the failure as soon as the investigation report is complete."
Meanwhile, addressing the policy dialogue as the chief guest, the state minister appreciated the discussion on energy sustainability at a time when the world is passing through an energy crisis.
Despite Bangladesh being a less polluter in terms of carbon emission, he said the country is committed to move towards renewable energies.
Given the reason, the government expected that the development partners and donors would come forward with adequate unconditional funds and technological support in the power sector, he added.
Developed countries should understand that countries like Bangladesh have limitations and require support in the sectors like clean energy, he said.
Mr Hamid also emphasised on advocacy with the international fashion brands to provide necessary financial and policy support to the RMG industry in Bangladesh for smooth transition in efficient power consumption.
The event was also addressed by Power Division Secretary Md Habibur Rahman, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Secretary Dr Farhina Ahmed, Bangladesh Bank (BB) General Manager (Sustainability & Compliance) Anwarul Islam, and BB Director (Sustainable Financing Department) Rajib Ali, among others.
Dr Farhina emphasised that many least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) are struggling to meet their energy demand for food production and basic utility services.
This is high time to move this issue forward and find a tangible solution for transferring technology to ensure 'just energy transition' worldwide, he emphasised.
Speakers at the programme said that in the last one year, Bangladesh's GHG emission level increased by 4.5 per cent, mostly coming from the industrial sector.
Being the biggest economic sector, the RMG sector should reduce its dependency on the national grid (which is 97 per cent dirty energy) and plan for energy sustainability as they agreed to reduce GHG emissions in the industry by 30 per cent within 2030.
