COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, and consequences for a fossil fuel-dominated electricity system
Source abstract
Abstract
In South Asian countries, the spread of COVID-19 was not treated seriously until mid-March 2020. Measures similar to those considered in Europe and other developed countries, such as maintaining social distance and lockdowns, were imposed. Lockdowns imposed a significant impact on the power sector, and this has been well explored in the literature for developed countries. A country-specific assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the energy sector is crucial for future crisis management and underpinning sustainable power sector development plans. The impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh’s fossil-fuel dominated electricity sector is explored in this study. The analyses were conducted for 2019 and for the pandemic lockdown period in 2020. Daily hourly demand variations for different electricity generation zones in the country were investigated. The impact of these demand variations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was assessed through time-varying carbon intensity analysis. Nationwide, the analysis revealed that the maximum hourly demand reduced by about 14% between 5 and 6 pm whereas the minimum demand reduction (3%–4%) occurred between 7:30 and 8 pm. Peak time demand reduction was found to be minimal during lockdowns. The national absolute GHG emission reduced by about 1075 kt CO2e, an ∼16% reduction compared with that in 2019. Time-varying carbon intensity patterns varied significantly between zones.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: COVID-19 impact on air quality · Energy and Environment Impacts · Air Quality and Health Impacts
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Jashore University of Science and Technology 1 , Jashore 7408, Bangladesh
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Jashore University of Science and Technology 2 , Jashore 7408, Bangladesh
References (63)
Show source-provided references
1. Analysis of the electricity demand trends amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic10.1016/j.erss.2020.101682 ↗
2. India’s power consumption falls by 19 percent during COVID-19 lockdown
3. COVID-19 energy sector responses in Africa: A review of preliminary government interventions10.1016/j.erss.2020.101681 ↗
4. Dependence on energy in South Asia and the need for a regional solution10.1016/j.egypro.2019.02.114 ↗
5. Coronavirus lockdown helped the environment to bounce back10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140573 ↗
6. Effects of COVID-19 on Indian energy consumption10.3390/su12145616 ↗
7. Sustainability and development after COVID-1910.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105082 ↗
8. Examining the economic impact of COVID-19 in India through daily electricity consumption and night time light intensity10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105287 ↗
9. COVID-19 threatens to take Nepal’s power sector back to the Dark Ages
10. The effect of appliance energy efficiency improvements on domestic electric loads in European households10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.05.001 ↗
11. BPDB · 2019
12. BPDB, See https://www.bpdb.gov.bd/bpdb_new/index.php/site/power_generation_unit for Installed Capacity of BPDB Power Plants (WWW Document). Bangladesh Power Development Board; accessed August 6, 20, 2020a
13. BPDB, See https://www.bpdb.gov.bd/bpdb_new/index.php/site/daily_generation_report for BPDB Generation Zones (WWW Document), Bangladesh Power Development Board; accessed August 7, 20, 2020b
14. BPDB · 2020
15. BPDB, See https://www.bpdb.gov.bd/ for Bangladesh Power Development Board (WWW Document), Government of Bangladesh; accessed June 30, 20, 2020d
16. The energy crises revealed by COVID: Intersections of Indigeneity, inequity, and health10.1016/j.erss.2020.101661 ↗
17. Coronavirus comes home? Energy use, home energy management, and the social-psychological factors of COVID-1910.1016/j.erss.2020.101688 ↗
18. COVID-19 and household energy implications: What are the main impacts on energy use?10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05202 ↗
19. Security of supply, strategic storage and COVID-19: Which lessons learnt for renewable and recycled carbon fuels, and their future role in decarbonizing transport?10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115216 ↗
20. Energy transition in a lockdown: An analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on changes in electricity demand in Lagos Nigeria10.1016/j.glt.2020.07.002 ↗
21. The impact of COVID-19 crisis on global energy sector
22. EQMS · 2015
23. Assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic effect on regional electricity generation mix in NYISO, MISO, and PJM markets10.1016/j.tej.2020.106829 ↗
24. Impact of COVID 19 on customers and society. Recommendations from the European power sector
25. FE · 2020
26. A retrospective analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on energy consumption at a disaggregated level10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116547 ↗
27. The short-run and long-run effects of COVID-19 on energy and the environment10.1016/j.joule.2020.06.010 ↗
28. How did the German and other European electricity systems react to the COVID-19 pandemic?10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116370 ↗
29. Prediction-based analysis on power consumption gap under long-term emergency: A case in China under COVID-1910.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116339 ↗
30. IEA, See https://www.iea.org/articles/global-energy-review-co2-emissions-in-2020 for Global Energy Review: CO2 Emissions in 2020 (WWW Document), International Energy Agency; accessed April 16, 20, 2021
31. Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability
32. Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: Challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116441 ↗
33. Importance of GHG emissions assessment in the electricity grid expansion towards a low-carbon future: A time-varying carbon intensity approach10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.162 ↗
34. Energy-saving behaviour as a demand-side management strategy in the developing world: The case of Bangladesh10.1007/s40095-019-0302-3 ↗
35. Household factors and electrical peak demand: A review for further assessment10.1080/17512549.2019.1575770 ↗
36. Power generation expansion plan and sustainability in a developing country: A multi-criteria decision analysis10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2019.02.161 ↗
37. Temporal carbon intensity analysis: Renewable versus fossil fuel dominated electricity systems10.1080/15567036.2018.1516013 ↗
38. Sustainability challenges for the south Asia growth quadrangle: A regional electricity generation sustainability assessment10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118639 ↗
39. Waste to biogas through anaerobic digestion: Hydrogen production potential in the developing world—A case of Bangladesh10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.04.038 ↗
40. Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in electricity systems using time-varying carbon intensity10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.309 ↗
41. Identifying residential daily electricity-use profiles through time-segmented regression analysis10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.04.026 ↗
42. Waste-to-energy generation technologies and the developing economies: A multi-criteria analysis for sustainability assessment10.1016/j.renene.2019.12.132 ↗
43. Minimising the present and future plastic waste, energy and environmental footprints related to COVID-1910.1016/j.rser.2020.109883 ↗
44. Review analysis of COVID-19 impact on electricity demand for residential buildings10.1016/j.rser.2021.110888 ↗
45. South Asia energy security: Challenges and opportunities10.1016/j.enpol.2013.07.128 ↗
46. Has COVID-19 lockdown impacted on aged care energy use and demand?10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110759 ↗
47. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on electricity demand in the UK based on multivariate time series forecasting with bidirectional long short term memory10.1016/j.energy.2021.120455 ↗
48. Emergency measures to protect energy consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A global review and critical analysis10.1016/j.erss.2020.101678 ↗
49. Nepali Times · 2020
50. When pandemics impact economies and climate change: Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on oil and electricity demand in China10.1016/j.erss.2020.101654 ↗
51. PGCB, See http://pgcb.gov.bd/ for Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, Ltd. (WWW Document), Government of Bangladesh; accessed June 30, 20, 2020
52. Impact of COVID-19 measures on short-term electricity consumption in the most affected EU countries and USA states10.1016/j.isci.2020.101639 ↗
53. Review on government action plans to reduce energy consumption in buildings amid COVID-19 pandemic outbreak10.1016/j.matpr.2020.04.723 ↗
54. Quantitative assessment of U.S. bulk power systems and market operations during the COVID-19 pandemic10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116354 ↗
55. Impact of COVID-19 outbreak measures of lockdown on the Italian carbon footprint10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139806 ↗
56. 2020
57. 2020
58. Electricity demand during pandemic times: The case of the COVID-19 in Spain10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111964 ↗
59. SREDA, See http://www.renewableenergy.gov.bd/ National Database of Renewable Energy (WWW Document), Sustainable Renewable Energy Development Authority; accessed August 6, 20, 2020
60. Navigating the clean energy transition in the COVID-19 crisis10.1016/j.joule.2020.04.011 ↗
61. UN, See https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/ SDG-7: Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for all (WWW Document), UN Sustainable Development Goals; accessed August 12, 20, 2015
62. A preliminary assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on environment—A case study of China10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138915 ↗
63. A preliminary simulation study about the impact of COVID-19 crisis on energy demand of a building mix at a district in Sweden10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115954 ↗