All to have access to power within December: Nasrul

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that the country will achieve the target of access to electricity for all by December this year.

He made the disclosure at a meeting with executive committee of the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB), a journalist body of the working reporters in energy and power sector, on Sunday at the Power Division.

Nasrul Hamid said the government will celebrate the achievement of cent percent electricity accessibility during this year’s National Victory Day on December 16, reports UNB.

All the areas of the country will come under electricity grid network by the time while the off-grid areas will get electricity through solar home system, he added.

He mentioned that Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) and other distribution companies have been working relentlessly to achieve the goal of making electricity accessible for all.

According to the available statistics at the Power Division, more than 98 percent areas of the country have already been under grid system.

The country’s present installed power generation capacity has 23,548 MW through 139 power plants while highest available generation is 12,893 MW.

The Power Division data shows the transmission line capacity has increased to 12,379 circuit line kilometer while the distribution line has enhanced to 588,000 kilometers.

The number of total electricity consumers has reached 27.9 million while per capita electricity consumption is 512 kilowatt hours.

FERB executive committee chairman Arun Karmaker, executive director Shamim Jahangir and other directors and members of the executive body were present at the meeting at the Power Division.