Impacts of COVID-19 on the Electrical Power Dynamics and Environment of Bangladesh

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has a landslide shock on human civilization. Due to its sudden destructive impacts on industries, commerce, education and social interactions, researchers are underway to investigate the consequences of this crisis, particularly on the electrical power consumption and environment. In this paper, the impacts of COVID-19 on the power industry of Bangladesh and its positive impacts on the environment have been investigated through the estimation of the reduction of power generation and CO2 emission during the months of April to July in 2020 and 2019. It is found that there was a 16.96% reduction of peak power generation in the month of May 2020 compared with that of May 2019. On the contrary, the CO2 emission was reduced by 12.23% on average, with a maximum reduction of 22.29% in May 2020. Both the indicators have a correlation with the severity of the pandemic in the month of May 2020.