Moving beyond Megawatt Illusion: Regional Cooperation for Energy Security

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Bangladesh’s energy strategy has often assumed that greater generation capacity would bring greater energy security. The country now has nearly 29,000MW of installed capacity, well above normal demand. Yet homes and businesses are again enduring prolonged power cuts. Last week, the government ordered shops and markets to close by 8 pm, echoing measures taken in 2009 and 2022, as gas shortages constrained generation. Days earlier, load-shedding peaked at 3,757MW: demand stood at 16,262MW, while generation was barely 12,500MW.

This is the ‘megawatt illusion’: equating installed capacity with energy security.

Addressing the energy crisis requires a multi-pronged approach: diversifying LNG sources beyond the Middle East, accelerating domestic gas exploration, targeting 10,000MW of renewables by 2030 with rooftop solar leading the way, improving efficiency through net-metering reforms and integrating nuclear power. But domestic diversification alone is not enough. This is where energy diplomacy must become a stronger pillar of Bangladesh’s foreign and economic policy, linking domestic energy security with regional opportunities.

Regional cooperation offers perhaps our greatest untapped energy opportunity. The Hindu Kush Himalaya region holds an estimated 882GW of hydropower potential, of which only 49% is currently harnessed. Nepal and Bhutan already generate 100% of their electricity from renewable sources. Bangladesh has also crossed an important threshold by importing 40MW of hydropower from Nepal through the Indian grid. The volume is modest, but the model is significant: Bangladesh, India and Nepal have demonstrated that clean electricity can move across national borders.

The strength of this regional cooperation lies in the region’s complementary energy resources.

Source: Wikipedia