Bangladesh’s coal imports have surged nearly fourfold in four years as a fleet of large thermal power plants increasingly takes up the burden of electricity generation amid declining domestic gas production and constraints on LNG imports.
The country imported about 20.1 million tonnes of coal in 2025, up from 5.6 million tonnes in 2022, according to figures obtained by Daily Waadaa.
The import bill more than doubled over the same period, rising to around $1.5 billion from $680 million.
The shift could leave Bangladesh with a much larger long-term foreign-exchange exposure.
Bangladesh Power Development Board officials familiar with fuel projections told Waadaa that annual coal imports could eventually cost more than $2 billion and the cumulative bill for operating the existing coal-fired fleet could approach $50 billion over the next 24 years.
The estimate assumes the plants continue operating through their expected lifespans, which stretch into the 2040s and around 2050.
The growing bill is now pushing the government to revisit Bangladesh’s own coal reserves as it tries to limit pressure on the balance of payments.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit told a government meeting on September 14 that domestic coal extraction would be accelerated as part of a broader energy roadmap.
The meeting, titled “Challenges and Future Roadmap for Bangladesh’s Power and Energy Sector”, was chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Secretariat.
Amit said the government planned to move ahead with coal extraction at the stalled Phulbari field using modern technology following consultations with experts and local communities.
The surge in coal use follows years of falling domestic natural gas production, historically the backbone of Bangladesh’s electricity system.
Domestic gas output has been declining since 2018, while Bangladesh’s ability to compensate with imported liquefied natural gas remains constrained by limited regasification infrastructure.
The country currently relies on two floating storage and regasification units for LNG imports.
Those constraints became particularly acute during the recent summer, when gas shortages left a large portion of gas-fired generation capacity unavailable as the government also sought to maintain supplies to industries and other consumers.
The Middle East conflict has added another layer of pressure by disrupting energy markets and raising concerns over LNG and petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
BPDB Chairman Reazul Karim said coal would therefore remain important for maintaining baseload generation in the near term.
“The LNG price almost trebled from pre-war rates,” Karim said, adding that coal had emerged as a reliable primary energy source for power generation.
Coal plants have consequently been called on heavily as the electricity system struggles with fuel shortages. BPDB's generation records this year show major plants including Payra, SS Power and Matarbari operating at high output on a number of days.
The expansion has been rapid.
Large-scale coal imports began with the 1,320MW Payra power project, which entered commercial operation in 2020 after test runs began the previous year.
The Barisal coal-fired plant began commercial operation in 2023. The Rampal Maitree plant, SS Power at Banshkhali and Matarbari subsequently joined the system, followed by the 1,320MW coal-fired plant at Kalapara in Patuakhali.
Bangladesh now has about 6,734MW of installed coal-fired capacity, spread across six major plants.
BPDB officials told Waadaa that around 77 million tonnes of coal have been imported over the past seven years, largely from Indonesia, at an estimated cost of about $5.8 billion.
Coal dependence could increase further.
BPDB officials said plans are being considered for two additional 1,320MW coal-fired plants, one at the existing Matarbari power hub in Cox’s Bazar and another at the Payra site in Patuakhali.
If both projects proceed, another 2,640MW would be added, taking coal-fired capacity to roughly 9,374MW and increasing annual fuel requirements.
That prospect has sharpened the government’s focus on domestic coal.
Bangladesh has significant known coal deposits, but attempts to develop some of them — particularly Phulbari — have faced prolonged disputes over extraction methods, displacement, environmental impacts and local opposition.
The government’s renewed interest comes as imported primary energy is consuming an increasing share of the country’s foreign exchange.
Officials said Bangladesh’s primary-energy import bill is projected to rise sharply as dependence on LNG, petroleum products and coal increases.
For coal alone, BPDB’s long-term calculation puts the potential import cost for keeping the current thermal fleet running at close to $50 billion over the coming 24 years.
“That is quite a big amount,” said M Tamim, pro-vice chancellor of Independent University, Bangladesh and an energy expert.
Tamim told Waadaa that coal-fired plants would remain difficult to dispense with in the short to medium term while alternative sources, including renewable energy, are scaled up.
But prolonged reliance on the plants would also mean continued dependence on imported primary energy, he said, leaving the country exposed to international fuel prices and the foreign currency needed to pay for them.
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