The government plans to invest USD $1billion in hydro electricity sector.
According to the plan, the government is going to set up a hydro-power company in Bangladesh which will not only generate but also import this kind of pro-environment electricity from the neighboring countries, Nepal and Bhutan, as both the countries have potentiality to generate hydro electricity.
It is likely to be named Hydro Power Generation Company Limited which will import electricity from the hydro-power plants of Nepal and Bhutan.
State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid told the Daily Observer on Sunday, "We are going to invest USD1bn to import environment friendly hydro power from Nepal and Bhutan. Tri-nation discussion has been started already".
A Power Cell official said, "We have made a decision on principle to set the company which will be the pioneer in the sector".
"The legal infrastructure for setting up the company under the Power Division is now being prepared and it will be registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms," said the official.
A recent study conducted by a US consultancy firm said that two rivers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts could potentially generate 79MW. The Power Cell, under the Power Division, supervised the study conducted by Streams Tech, Inc (STI).
The study said that 58.33MW power can be generated from the Sangu River and 20.83MW from the Matamuhuri River. The 230MW Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station, built in 1962, is currently the only major source of hydro-power in Bangladesh.