In Bangladesh, Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resource (MoPEMR) manages the electricity business. Where the power is generated by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), power plants that are departments and subsidiaries of BPDB, Independent Power Producer (IPP), and private power generation companies. Power is supplied through Power Grid Company of Bangladesh’s (PGCB) power transmission facilities to customers in local cities by BPDB, in the metropolitan area by Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd. (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Distribution Company (DESCO), and in rural areas by Palli Biddyut Samities (PBS). And the distribution departments in local cities are being separated one by one [2].

Bangladesh is so much dependent on its tradition energy technology leading by the natural gas (62.39%). Although furnace oil (20.49%), diesel (7.97%), coal (2.33%), hydro (2.15%) makes a vital role in energy generation [6]. Until the mid-1990s demand for fertilizer was the top priority. But, now a day’s demand for the gas power generation has risen. The fastest-growing demand is from the industry, with 13% annual increase [7] shown in the Table 1. Power contributions and the National energy statistics are also described briefly by the Table 2 and Table 3 correspondingly.

Current electricity production and installation capacity of Bangladesh are described here by Table 3, where electricity transmission losses are not deducted.

Bangladesh has made significant progress in access to electricity as its electrification coverage reached 88% in 2017. The World Bank mentioned that among the countries with the largest population without access to electricity Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar, and Sudan have made the most progress. World Bank, Sustainable Energy for all database shows the progress in the following Figure 3 [18].

Energy conservation is one of the most important issues of the sector due to economic and environmental reasons. However, until a very recent past no serious attempts were made to take up and implement energy conservation programs which have been given due importance in the National Energy Policy of Bangladesh (1996) [7].

System loss of more than 4% in power generation is not acceptable. It has been stated that the average system loss of power generation by the PDB is 6.35%. The government will plan to reduce system loss to a specified limit [7].

In the past situation, Bangladesh faced an enormous electricity shortage that affected non-agricultural employment. So, there was a great energy gap between peak demand and maximum energy generation. Those gaps are said to be the generation lag. In Bangladesh, the present government promised to ensure the continued supply of electricity to all the citizens by the year 2021. According to the Power System Master Plan (PSMP) 2010, the forecasted demand for the power based on 7% GDP growth rate shows the only Nuclear Power Plant can full fill the demand of the nation, that is illustrated in Figure 4 by showing the exponential increase of peak demand (MW) [19].

In order to fill up the gap in between demand and generation, every year Bangladesh imports power from neighbor country. Which costs huge. The import of electricity from India and Bhutan are worth exploring. Myanmar has satisfactory gas reserves. Bangladesh could negotiate for import of gas from Myanmar [7].

Bangladesh is a country with no shortage of well-written policies. It is the

implementation of these where the problem begins. This is not only an isolated problem for Bangladesh alone. Sometimes the reality shows that that convincing an idea is often easier than putting it into practice. The energy sector have is no different in having some well-constructed ideas and policies. Some of the policies of recent years are given below [20] :

· National Energy Policy-2004,

· Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh-2008,

· The Sixth Five-year plan of Bangladesh (2011-15)-2011,

· Perspective plan of Bangladesh (2010-2021) Vision 2021-2012,

· The National Sustainable Development Strategy-2013,

· Intended National Determined Contributions-2015,

· The Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-2020)-2015,

· Energy Efficiency and Conservation Master Plan up to 2030-2015,

· Power System Master Plan-2016.

The PSMP is a document that aimed to assist the Bangladesh Government in formulating an extensive energy and power development plan up to the year 2041. It highlights the country’s desire to become a high-income country by 2041, so the quantity and quality of the power infrastructure must also reflect that status. Due to the upcoming depletion of domestic gas the Plan highlights the issues of sustainable development harmonizing with economic optimization, improvement of power quality for the developing high-tech industries and the operation and maintenance of power plants to be all addressed holistically. It should be noted that the current form of the paper is not set in stone and further development is likely to take place. The factor of energy subsidies was also highlighted as being a tough challenge due to the concern that a drastic increase of fuel and energy prices may trigger another negative effect on the national economy. A meticulous analysis is required to find the best route to attaining the balance of energy sustainability and economic growth. The 2016 version of the PSMP covers why that the energy development predicted in the 2010 PSMP is not on track. It cited various assumptions about expected sources of base load energy having changed, and the vast increase of oil based rental power plants, and the lack of control over their power production. This has created a very unstable production network with no real central control to dictate country wide production schedules. The plan lays out five key goals of the vision 2041 [20] :

· Enhancement of imported energy infrastructure and its flexible operation.

· Efficient Development and utilization of domestic natural resources (gas and coal).

· Construction of a robust, high-quality power network.

· Maximization of green energy and promotion of its introduction.

· Improvement of human resources and mechanisms related to the stable supply of energy.

Due to the low current state of primary energy resources, demand is not being met. In this context, the Government is formulating the “Five-Fuel strategy,” of which the priorities are given below [2].

· Undertake immediate exploration of hydrocarbon and identify additional reserves that can meet the growing demand of gas by all consumer sectors.

· Develop alternative commercial energy supplies suitable for power generation, especially coal, to ease the burden of fast-growing electricity demand on gas resources. Thus, a two-fuel (gas and coal) strategy is required for both resource diversification and energy security.

· Ensure efficient use of energy by using energy–saving appliances, plants and equipment in order to effectively increase the stock of available energy supplies.

· The resource potential of renewable energy is significantly larger than its present consumption and is a promising source of clean, convenient energy supply, especially in rural areas.

· Considering the limitation of fossil fuel supplies, nuclear fuel could be a potential energy option for the country, as it is a proven technology for economic, reliable and sustainable electricity generation.

At present, almost 88% of the country’s power is dependent on gas and almost 50% of the consumed commercial energy is used for power generation. To ensure energy security more balance is needed. Present energy mix in Bangladesh and target mix of energy is shown here by Table 4 and also those data are compared with the global position [7]. Projection of the primary energy supply shown by the Table 5.

In order to decrease the pressure on natural gas, oil and biofuel it is wiser to develop alternative plan so that ensure the efficient use of different energy sources. That’s why their Power System Master Plan-2016 suggests a projection of energy supply.

Bangladesh is in the stage to become the 33rd Nuclear Power producing nation. The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is expected to generate 2400 MW of power, helping the nation to address the expanding demand for electricity. The project is done by the financial and technical support of the Russian State Energy Commission (ROSATOM). The idea of building a nuclear power plant was developed in the year 1961. Only after the chosen primary site, Pakistan government shifted the nuclear power plant project to Karachi. After independence, the government of Bangladesh again took over the project and decided to set up a nuclear power plant that has a capacity of 200 MW.

Some of the key milestones of Bangladesh national Power program is given below here [2] :

· 1963: Rooppur site selected for implementation of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

· 1971-78, 1987-88: Feasibility studies for site and first NPP conducted. Further feasibility studies for site and first NPP conducted.

· 1996: National Energy Policy identifies nuclear power as an option.

· 2000: BANPAP approved by the government.

· 2010: National Parliament approves first NPP project and new structure for NP program development (equivalent NEPIO) were formed (National Committees, Technical Committee, Working Group).

· 2011: IGA with Russian federation signed for the first NPP with two VVER units, each of 1000 MW.

· 2012: Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Act 2012 was passed in the National Parliament on 19th June 2012.

· 2013: Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority was formed as a separate entity on 12th February 2013.

· 2015: General contract was signed with Russian Federation for main stage construction of Rooppur NPP.

· 2016: Inter-Government State Credit Agreement for financing the main stage construction of Rooppur NPP.

PGCB maintained the gridline of Bangladesh, where different power generation company contributes their power either in 230 kV or 132 kV line. At present 10,000 MW is the maximum load that can be handled by the grid line. According to the plan, a 400 kV line is going to be hooked up in order to import power from India. At present, the dependable generation capacity of the country will be about 12,000 MW against a maximum demand of about 11,000 MW in 2017. But the contribution of nuclear power will be about 2000 MW by the year 2020 and will be increased by about 5000 MW in 2030. So the installed capacity is projected to increase about 33,000 MW by 2030. So, PGCB needs to upgrade the national grid [2].

Under the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), BAEC has engaged in lots of activities to develop not only the manpower for future work but also develop the nuclear power concept all over Bangladesh since 1960. BAEC built the country’s largest nuclear research center called “Atomic Energy Research Establishment”. Where the 3 MW TRIGA Mark-II research reactor has been operating especially for radioisotope production and developing manpower training projects.

For developing the manpower for a very complex and modern RNPP project, Bangladesh Government has developed a contract with the Russian Government to develop almost 2100 personnel for both technical and non-technical training purpose. In the same way, every year twenty students from Bangladesh are coming to Nuclear Engineering of MEPhI University for higher studies.

It was 1963 when the Rooppur site was selected for the nuclear power plant project. After a long gap in 2016 Inter-Government agreement was done for main stage construction of RNPP. Although there was a huge gap of time to implement the ideas in the real working field, but the local people are so concern about the power situation in that time of the country. They also thought in quiet differently that, the power station may create a huge job opportunity for them and also the overall developing of that specific area of the country. So, it was so much easy task for the Government to spread the Nuclear technology to all over the country.

But in general, will be always a political conflict with the anti-nuclear agenda. That makes some concerns on the public’s minds. So BAEC and the Russian contractors arranged lots of awareness programs for the public. BAEC arranged international seminar which was inaugurated by the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They also arranged art competitions, booklet distribution, opinion sharing meeting, etc. [2]. All of those attempts make a great sense in public the mind.