Govt working on how to use hydrogen, ammonia for power generation: Nasrul Hamid

Practical steps have been taken for generating power, including looking for ways to use hydrogen and ammonia as fuel besides conventional energy sources, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said today.

"The power division is working on how to use hydrogen, ammonia as fuel alongside conventional sources of energy. Nuclear power will soon be brought to the national grid. About 12,047 MW of power generation from renewable sources is [currently] in different stages of development," said the minister at a workshop "Techno-Economic Study of Electricity Generation Technologies for Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities" at the Bidyut Bhaban yesterday.

Stating that one of the main goals of the government is to provide uninterrupted power at affordable prices, he said, "Modernisation of [electricity] transmission and distribution systems, and grid synchronisation has also been given special emphasis."

He further said availability of non-agricultural land is one of the major problems in the expansion of renewable energy in Bangladesh. 

"We are also moving forward with onshore and offshore wind power," he added.

In the workshop, Bloomberg NEF, a US technology and financial strategic research organisation for energy professionals, presented a research paper on various sources of electricity production in Bangladesh and its cost.

Dr Ali Izadi, head of Bloomberg's Asia Pacific region, Isshu Kikuma, market leader for South Asia, and Tarun Blakrishnan, senior associate, presented the paper.

They emphasised on supporting renewable energy at the utility scale, increasing the use of rooftop and floating solar, and training for clean technology jobs.

They pointed out that  carbon emissions can be reduced by mixing coal with ammonia or natural gas with hydrogen, but the cost will be high, while the use of batteries with solar or batteries with wind is much more cost-effective.