Cancelling energy agreements may sound straightforward, but extricating from such contracts proves immensely expensive, said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
She remarked that the process of terminating such contracts is highly challenging, citing the Niko contract as an example, which required intervention at the international level.
Nonetheless, the interim government has taken up the challenge, and a review of these agreements is currently underway.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan shared these insights during the second energy conference titled ‘Bangladesh Energy Prosperity 2050,’ held at the BIAM Auditorium in Dhaka on Wednesday (11 December).
The three-day conference was organised by a coalition of several non-governmental development organisations under the banner of the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED).
Speaking on legacy agreements, Rizwana Hasan noted that several contracts and projects initiated under the previous government faced widespread opposition from the outset.
She lamented the significant financial burden posed by implemented projects, with loans now needing to be repaid while yielding little to no benefit.
"We are paying for idle projects," she remarked, adding that simultaneously, there is mounting pressure to transition towards cleaner energy. The ill-conceived and exorbitantly expensive agreements have placed the government in a precarious position. "A considerable amount of time is being spent on damage control," she noted.
Addressing questions from conference participants, Rizwana Hasan pointed out that rooftop solar panels installed on residential buildings in Dhaka lack proper monitoring to ensure functionality.
She further highlighted that land acquired for various projects, which remains unused, cannot legally be returned to the original owners.
However, she suggested that such unutilised lands could be repurposed for renewable energy generation or reforestation.
The adviser also criticised the lack of discourse on energy conservation, remarking, "Energy efficiency and conservation did not feature in anyone’s remarks during the conference."
