The right to turn on the light in the Developing World

Two contrasting visuals often flip through my mind when I think about the ‘access to electricity’ and the ‘impact of power generation on the climate change’; a family of five sitting in the dark in their home located in the fishing village of a developing country and declining population of penguins on the Elephant Island in the Antarctic. The reasons behind these disquieting images are somehow deeply interlinked.

Curbing the impact of climate change is a global priority today. It’s a common responsibility that the global leaders are spearheading as they consciously adopt ways to limit CO2 emissions through burning of fossil fuels, especially in power generation, a key contributor to climate change. At the same time, it’s crucial to take cognizance that there is a significant difference in the challenges faced by the developed and developing nations of the world in terms of their trajectories to moving ahead in the growth curve. 

The discussions among global thought leaders around gaining access to reliable electricity and energy security at the recently held Atlantic Council’s virtual Global Energy Forum 2021, brought forward interesting comparisons aligned to achieving a sustainable energy mix in the developed and developing worlds. 

Progressive technological innovations and policy framework

For developing nations, like Bangladesh – part of South Asia, providing access to reliable electricity takes precedence over taking on the path of energy transition or moving towards net zero emissions. Improving the power generation infrastructure and nation-wide distribution network of electricity are the urgent asks to transform the power sector in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is among the fastest growing global economies over the past decade (including 2020, during which the world was taken down by COVID-19 pandemic) and holds tremendous growth potential in future.

The country is using innovative ways to augment access to electricity for the people. These include installing rooftop solar home systems connected to microgrids - empowering the rural communities, adopting net metering systems, using world-class technology to power natural gas fired power plants to increase efficiency and power output, promoting co-generation of electricity in industrial set-ups, and creating a progressive, transparent and risk averse policy framework to attract investment in the power sector. The Ministry of Power in Bangladesh is also focusing on repurposing the energy infrastructure and using digital technology to drive better operational flexibility, predictability, and reliability while reducing T&D losses.

Placed 8th in the world in terms of population, Bangladesh has entered the ranks of middle-income countries with the aim of becoming a developed country by 2041. ~97 percent of its people have access to electricity, that is also helping them to have access to better healthcare, education, employment opportunities, infrastructure and overall socio-economic development. The Government of Bangladesh is taking giant leaps to prioritize supply of uninterrupted reliable electricity to its people while moving towards establishing a sustainable energy mix in the future. It aims to generate 10 percent of nation’s electricity from renewables.

Eradicating energy poverty – a global agenda

In the fast-paced technology enabled world of today, access to electricity must be considered as a basic human right. Every human on the planet must be able to exercise the right to turn on the light. This scenario seems perfect and must be the global agenda. However, we cannot ignore the impact on the environment that more often is detrimental to the survival of other species on the planet.

The faster adoption of the variable carbon-free renewable energy systems must be complemented with a base load mechanism to stabilize the fluctuations in frequency and voltage at the grid level. At GE, we believe that lower-carbon solutions, such as renewable energy supported by gas power, can contribute to a more decarbonized energy future. Their complementary nature offers tremendous potential to help cutting carbon emissions with the speed and scale the world requires. Natural gas-fired power generation is flexible and dispatchable. Plants can come online quickly, adjust power output level, and turn down to a very low output level to balance supply and demand as needed. Bangladesh, for instance, has been utilizing natural gas as the primary fuel to generate efficient and affordable electricity and stands a great chance to continue leveraging the installed and upcoming gas power capacity, acting as a catalyst in promoting the growth of the renewable energy in the country.