Peter Haas asks Bangladesh to develop plan to solidify energy security

US Ambassador Peter Haas has asked all nations including Bangladesh to develop a plan to solidify energy security based on a diversified portfolio of resources, citing the impacts of Russia-Ukraine war on the energy market.

He said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shocked the energy market in Bangladesh, like in many parts of the world.

"Countries became acutely aware of their dependencies on foreign sources of fuel. The impact of that act of aggression sheds a light on the interconnectedness of the global energy supply," he said on Tuesday.

"The lesson we take away from this is clear. Russia has shown the world it will hold energy infrastructure hostage to achieve its imperious objectives.

"All nations, therefore, must develop a plan to solidify their energy security based on a diversified portfolio of resources," said the ambassador.

He was speaking at the EMK Centre, at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF) in Dhaka.

The forum is the premier public-private US government event to promote trade, investment, and economic cooperation between the United States and its partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the US embassy said.

This year’s event will convene 500 leaders from across the region, including through a live stream for virtual participation and satellite events in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The one-day event in Manila, Philippines, is co-hosted by the US Trade and Development Agency and the government of Philippines, in partnership with the US Department of State.

IPBF connects CEOs, project developers, government officials, and sources of financing for priority infrastructure in emerging Indo-Pacific economies.

Through speeches, breakout panels, and business matchmaking, participants will learn and share their insights on the latest trends, opportunities, and solutions to support infrastructure across all sectors. IPBF is also a chance to learn more about government tools and programs to support US participation in the region’s priority projects. 

The key themes and topics for 2024 are clean energy, digital transformation, supply chain resiliency, transportation infrastructure and emerging technologies.

The ambassador said empowering Bangladesh with clean energy today means a brighter, sustainable future for generations to come.

Fossil fuels may be in short supply in the coming years. This underscores the urgency to advance a sustainable, equitable, and just energy transition to clean and renewable energy resources, he said.

"Bangladesh is fortunate with its domestic supply of natural gas. I am proud to say that US businesses have been instrumental in allowing Bangladesh to utilize those resources to drive its remarkable economic development over the last two decades.”

"But as I mentioned before, those supplies are not infinite.  And while Bangladesh may soon find more gas in new locations, eventually those too will run out," he said

Renewable and clean energy resources are the key to this energy transition for Bangladesh, for South Asia, and for the world, he said.

Finding ways to harness solar, wind, hydro, hydrogen, and other energy sources is the path to energy security and is needed to support continued economic growth and sustainable development.

To help Bangladesh reach this goal, my government has been working with the Bangladeshi government, the private sector, international financial institutions, and like-minded governments to build the foundation for this country’s clean energy transition, said the ambassador.

He also noted some challenges. Those include finding effective means to decarbonize our existing economic infrastructure, seamlessly integrating intermittent energy resources into national grids which are already struggling to keep up with demand, developing abundant supplies of cleaner fuel sources, such as green hydrogen, ensuring that countries have access to finance for clean and renewable energy technologies, and negotiating regional energy trading agreements where politics may trump economic advancement (to name just a few).

For Bangladesh to achieve a just energy transition, it will take contributions from government, private sector, and civil society.

It will require good policies in place to incentivize smart investments and cross-border electricity trade, privatization of underperforming state-owned assets, adoption of new technologies, and a phasing out of the most damaging fossil fuel power generation facilities.

“This will not happen overnight. It will take years to accomplish. But we can accomplish it faster if we work together and share our collective knowledge,” Peter Haas said.