The Power and Energy Crisis Behind Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Mashiur Rahman

Power is not just a matter of politics or the military—it shapes economies, productivity, technology, and even the routine flow of daily life. The foundation of this power is energy—fuel. Control over electricity and energy allows a country or institution not only to meet its own needs but also enables influence, decision-making, and the direction of development. Bangladesh is no exception to this reality.

Over the past decade, Bangladesh’s economy has made great strides. Readymade garments, agriculture, remittance, and, more recently, information technology—all together have contributed to commendable GDP growth. Among many contributing factors, in my view, the central element of this growth is electricity. From irrigation pumps used by farmers to Dhaka’s data centers, from small entrepreneurs’ machines to the running speed of the metro rail—everything depends on a stable and uninterrupted power supply. Yet, we hardly see much discussion about the future of our electricity system.

Although artificial intelligence, or AI, technology in Bangladesh is still in its early stages, its potential is immense. Implementation has begun in various sectors—government offices, healthcare, education, law enforcement, and business. Startups, banks, and e-commerce companies are already using AI for customer service and data analysis. However, a basic requirement of this technology is electricity. When the prospect of AI-driven data centers or machine learning models is discussed in Bangladesh, the question arises—how will we meet this enormous electricity demand?

Currently, a significant portion of Bangladesh’s electricity generation still relies on fossil fuels. Electricity produced from coal, oil, and gas is harmful to the environment on one hand and puts pressure on foreign currency reserves on the other. Whenever oil prices rise, government subsidies increase and the budget balance is shaken. Yet, our future use of technology is becoming increasingly dependent on electricity. If we do not move decisively toward clean energy, meeting electricity demand will eventually become our greatest challenge.

With this reality in mind, we must ask ourselves—which path are we taking? Today, when frequent load-shedding happens in different areas, it is not hard to imagine how a power shortage could hinder the expansion of AI-powered healthcare, education, or the industrial sector in the future. Imagine—a hospital uses an AI-driven diagnostic machine, but a sudden power outage halts it. Or, a school where students are learning via digital agents loses network access because there is no power at the backend data center. These small incidents will eventually form a much bigger scenario.

Bangladesh has taken some steps toward clean energy production—use of solar panels at the household level has increased, solar-powered isolation hospitals have been built, and a few hydropower projects have been launched. But these are still very insignificant compared to the need. The government is relying on imported LNG, or liquefied natural gas, for electricity generation, but its future price is not stable. Additionally, dependence on rental power plants could be detrimental for the country’s economy in the long term. When oil prices go up, not only do the prices of essential commodities for ordinary people rise, but the cost of electricity services also becomes a burden for the public.

What we need now is an integrated energy policy—one that includes both fossil fuels and renewable energy. Not just solar or wind, but also nuclear power, hydropower, waste-to-energy generation, and grid-based battery storage need to be part of this mix. Educational institutions, research organizations, and technology companies must come together to develop a practical energy roadmap for the next 20 years. Only then can the expansion of AI technology and the country’s economic growth complement each other.

No idea can survive without energy. No matter how great the technological knowledge or ideas might be, if there is no energy to implement them, they will remain only on paper. We must align our AI strategies with energy policy. Because in the days ahead, electricity will be the driving force of Bangladesh’s growth, and it will decide whether we can move forward on the path of digital development.

If a densely populated and promising nation like Bangladesh embraces artificial intelligence technology from now and builds the necessary energy infrastructure for it, that could become the foundation of our future economy. If we only react instead of planning for the future, we might face a scenario where AI exists, but there is not enough electricity to power it. In that case, both technology and prosperity will exist only on posters—not in reality.