Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) will supply electricity connection to 1,030 remote villages in its off-grid areas through submarine cables, drawn under the riverbeds by the end of this year, an official says.

Currently, 99 percent people under BREB’s distribution areas receive electricity, leaving some 1,059 villages in its off-grid or remote areas out of this facility

“Electricity will be supplied to 2.5 lakh families in 1,030 villages by laying submarine cable. Some 5,000 families in another 29 villages will get electricity using Solar Home Systems (SHS) at an affordable price,” said the top BREB official, who preferred to go unnamed.

With a length of different river crossings is about 100 kilometers, more than 300 kilometers of submarine cable will be installed to supply electricity from national grid to these remote areas, the official added.

BREB Director Mohammad Anwar Hossain told Bangladesh Post, “We have already completed 100-percent electrification on our grid-connected areas, brining 99 percent peoples under electricity coverage it our distribution area.

“We hope to bring rest of the places, locating in remote areas, under electricity coverage within the ‘Mujib Year,” he added.

In November, 2019, the government laid a 15-km submarine cables on the sea bed for the first time to supply electricity to the southern island of Sandwip in Chittagong district.

In February this year, the government also opened a 1-km submarine cable, drawn under the Padma River, to provide some 20,000 consumers with electricity in two char areas in Shariatpur’s Naria upazila.

According to Power Division, the number of electricity consumers rose by nearly fourfold in the country, and system loss reduced by one-third over the past 11 years, leading to overall development of the economy.

During this period, per capita electricity consumption also saw a rise from 220 units (kilowatts per hour) to 512 units. The government also supplied electricity to remote villages and char lands that fall out the national transmission line.  

Some 97 percent of people have already been brought under electricity coverage with the government working to ensure power connection for each household within the ‘Mujib Year,’ according to Bangladesh Power Development Board.