National Energy Balance of Bangladesh for FY 2014-15

1. Overview

The total energy supply (TES) to the country was 42,347 ktoe while the final energy consumption (FEC) was 29,871 ktoe. Non-energy consumption was 1,378 ktoe, and the statistical difference was 1,820 ktoe. Transformation loss, energy industry own use, with the transmission and distribution loss altogether accounted for 9,475 ktoe. Bangladesh’s FEC / TES ratio for FY 2014-15 is 0.71.

Bangladesh’s national energy balance structure can be categorised by (i) dominance of its indigenous natural gas, (ii) significant importance of biofuel, and (iii) large dependency on captive power generation (auto producers). These characteristics of the national energy balance structure of Bangladesh can be visualised in the form of the energy balance table figure as shown below:

2. Total Energy Supply (TES)

The total energy supply of 42,347 ktoe is composed of 21,172 ktoe of natural gas, and 12,750 ktoe of biofuel as the major energy products. The biofuel is the fuelwood for mostly supplied to residential sector for cooking and heating purposes, where city gas is not available. Domestic production which comprises 34,804 ktoe is also mostly composed of natural gas and biofuel. Import is 8,010 ktoe among which 5,486 ktoe is petroleum products, 1,329 ktoe is crude oil, and 291 ktoe is electricity import.

Self sufficiency rate (domestic production / total energy supply) of energy supply of Bangladesh is 82%. If biofuel is excluded then the rate becomes 74%.

3. Transformation and Losses

Three major energy transformation means in Bangladesh are thermal electric power generation, captive power generation, and oil refinery. Each transformation deliver 3,603 ktoe, 1,246 ktoe, and 1,091 ktoe, respectively. Although smaller in scale, there are indigenous condensate and natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation plants which produce 198 ktoe of petroleum products.

Overall transformation efficiency of thermal electric power generation (gross) is calculated as approximately 36%. Considering the public power plants’ own use which is reported as 92 ktoe, and the national grid’s transmission & distribution loss which amounts to 197 ktoe, the overall efficiency of generation, transmission, and distribution of the grid electricity becomes approximately 33%. Similarly, the transformation efficiency of oil refinery and fractionation plants combined is approximately 75%. Captive power generation efficiency is assumed to be 35%. In overall, all the losses reported add up to 9,475 ktoe.

4. Final Energy Consumption (FEC) by Energy Product

Biofuel (fuelwood), comprising 43% of the final energy consumption (FEC) is the largest energy product being consumed in Bangladesh. It amounts to 12,750 ktoe. When excluding biofuel from the analysis, natural gas becomes the largest composition of final energy consumption (7,563 ktoe), followed by electricity of 4,653 ktoe. Petroleum product final consumption is 3,844 ktoe, while coal final consumption is 1,061 ktoe.

5. Final Energy Consumption (FEC) by Sector

Sectoral breakdown of Bangladesh’s final energy consumption (FEC) of 29,871 ktoe is as shown in the chart below. As the largest energy consuming sector, 17,736 ktoe is consumed in residential sector. Entire biofuel is being consumed by the sector. When biofuel is excluded, Industry sector becomes the top energy consuming sector with 7,155 ktoe being consumed, followed by residential sector consuming 4,986 (=17,736-12,750) ktoe. Transport sector consumes 3,342 ktoe, followed by 1,061 ktoe consumption by agriculture sector. Commercial and public service sector sector energy consumption is still limited to 578 ktoe.

6. Primary Energy Basis Final Energy Consumption

For the final consumption of 1 toe equivalent (=11.63 MWh) of electricity, there is a need for an input of 2.94 toe (=34.19 MWh) equivalent of primary energy. This is because the overall electricity transformation efficiency was calculated to be approximately 34% (including grid and captive). Similarly, the final consumption of 1 toe equivalent of petroleum product requires 1.33 toe of primary energy input, because the overall transformation efficiency of petroleum product was calculated as 75%. Such measurement of primary energy required for the final consumption is hereby termed as the “final energy consumption on primary energy basis” or “primary energy basis final energy consumption.

Primary energy basis final energy consumption enables the fair comparison between the energy utilised in the various forms of energy products, from the viewpoint of energy supply to.the country. It is therefore necessary to observe the final energy consumption on primary energy basis when analysing the final energy consumption data from national perspective.

Primary energy basis final energy consumption for natural gas, coal, and biofuel are deemed to be same as the final energy consumption as sufficient data on the transformation and distribution efficiency could not be obtained.

The final energy consumption, which was calculated as 29,871 ktoe becomes 39,149 ktoe on primary energy basis. Electricity comprises 34% of the total at 13,503 ktoe, followed by 12,750 ktoe of biofuel which is 33% of the final energy consumption on primary energy basis. Natural gas comprises 19% at 7,563 ktoe, and petroleum products, 11% at 4,272 ktoe.

When excluding biofuel, the final energy consumption on primary energy basis becomes 26,399 ktoe among which more than half (51%) is the electricity consumption at 13,503 ktoe. Next come the natural gas at 7,563 ktoe (29%), petroleum products at 4,272 (16%), and coal at 1,061 ktoe (4%).

Primary energy basis final energy consumption by sector is shown in the following charts. Residential sector takes up 54% of the entire amount, with industry sector comprising 30% and transport sector 9%. When excluding the biofuel, industry sector becomes the dominant sector (44%), followed by residential sector (32%) and transport sector (14%).

With respect to the importance of the primary energy basis final energy consumption analysis, breakdown charts (all energy products on the left, excluding biofuel on the right) have been prepared. Focusing on mostly fossil fuel derived energy (i.e., excluding biofuel), it is observed that the industry sector electricity consumption, together with the residential sector electricity consumption are the large sector-product segments. As the consequence, energy efficiency and conservation potentials are most likely to be significant in these two segments.

7. National Energy Intensity

Energy intensity is measured by the quantity of energy required per unit output or activity, so that using less energy to produce a product reduces the intensity. (US DOE definition). National energy intensity of Bangladesh is calculated with the total energy supply (or final energy consumption) divided by constant gross domestic product (GDP) for the fiscal year. The constant market price GDP used is the FY 2015-16 price data in BDT.