AmCham holds Energy & Power Subcommittee meeting, Focused Group Discussion on sector opportunities

American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) convened a meeting of its Energy & Power Subcommittee today (Thursday) to engage in constructive dialogue on the evolving energy landscape and future opportunities in the sector. 

As part of this initiative, a Focused Group Discussion was held at the Sheraton Hotel, Banani, bringing together leading stakeholders from across the energy and power industry to exchange insights, share best practices, and explore pathways for sustainable growth and collaboration, according to a media release. 

Mr. Syed Ershad Ahmed, President of the AmCham, emphasized the need for coordinated short- medium- and long-term strategies, noting that AmCham will submit recommendations to relevant ministries.

He emphasized gathering stakeholder feedback, favoring a consultative approach over unilateral views.

Mr. Eric Walker, Vice President of AmCham and President of Chevron, emphasized that beyond short-term measures, Bangladesh must prepare for energy demand which will potentially double or triple within the next 15–20 years, underscoring the urgent need for renewed drilling and government support for exploration.

He called for a diversified energy strategy, including additional LNG terminals, expanded onshore and offshore exploration, and greater investment in solar, alongside stronger industry-government collaboration to deliver actionable long-term solutions.

Mr. Habib Bhuyian, Country Manager of Excelerate Energy, warned that prolonged reliance on high-priced spot LNG could have severe multidimensional economic consequences and urged companies to share emerging challenges, forward-looking risks, and recommendations so that a consolidated industry voice can be presented to policymakers for informed decision-making.

Professor M. Tamim, Vice Chancellor of IUB and former Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor (2008), stressed the urgent need to increase reliance on domestic energy, noting that boosting output from existing gas fields could take 2–5 years while new exploration would take even longer, and highlighted the limitations of the BAPEX (Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Limited)-only approach, recommending engagement with international reservoir management firms to optimize output.

He also highlighted the need for a clear policy decision on domestic coal development. 

Dr. Sebastian Groh, Managing Director of Solshare, outlined three key recommendations: (1) rationalize duties on solar and storage technologies by removing policy distortions that favor diesel generators and lead-acid batteries over cleaner alternatives, and by ensuring ESCOs receive equal duty benefits as IPPs to enable scalable rooftop solar models; (2) ensure effective disbursement of green finance by strengthening implementation and political commitment so that existing funding mechanisms actually reach projects; and (3) formalize electric three-wheelers through licensing and regulation to unlock financing, attract investment, and enable their future use as distributed energy storage (VPP), which could significantly support grid stability

Industry experts present in the discussion highlighted the need to scale up renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar, by reforming financing schemes, increasing loan limits, and reducing regulatory barriers, alongside modernizing the national grid to enable net metering and electricity buyback and supporting industrial decarbonization through targeted financing and energy-efficient technologies.

They emphasized immediate, realistic policy actions with short-, medium- and long-term planning, including improving power plant efficiency, expanding generation capacity, and adopting a holistic energy strategy covering fuel supply, generation, and transmission.

Leading energy & power sector companies were present in this meeting, including Chevron Bangladesh, Cross-World Trading Company, Delta LPG, Energypac Power Generation Ltd., Excelerate Energy, GE Vernova International LLC, IDCOL, Omera Petroleum Ltd., SOLshare, and United Power, alongside policy experts and economic researchers from LightCastle Partners and PwC Bangladesh.

Distinguished participants also included Professor M. Tamim, Vice Chancellor of IUB and former Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser (2008), Mr. Fazlul Haque, former President of BKMEA, as well as representatives from the United States Embassy in Bangladesh, includingMr. Paul Frost, the Commercial Counselor.