Why Bangladesh should power the AI economy 

Bangladesh spent the past two decades building electricity infrastructure to support industrialisation. Today, that investment presents an unexpected opportunity: transforming underutilised generation capacity into infrastructure for the global AI and digital economy.

The rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing and digital services is driving unprecedented demand for data centres. Their primary constraints are increasingly electricity, cooling and connectivity.

Bangladesh has the foundations for all three.

From excess capacity to productive demand

Bangladesh has significantly more installed generation capacity than its current peak electricity demand. Yet this apparent surplus coexists with periodic shortages because fuel constraints, transmission bottlenecks and financial pressures prevent all available capacity from operating when required.

That distinction matters. Bangladesh does not have unlimited surplus electricity. It does, however, have billions of dollars invested in generation and grid infrastructure that remains underutilised for much of the year.

Data centres present an opportunity to make better use of these assets.

Unlike many industries, large data centres can be located close to existing power plants and major substations, reducing transmission constraints while providing stable, long-term electricity demand. They can improve utilisation of infrastructure that has already been built.

Rather than viewing excess generation capacity solely as a financial burden, Bangladesh could ask a different question: Can some of these underutilised megawatts become the foundation of a new digital export industry?

Large-scale data centres can attract billions of dollars in long-term infrastructure investment. Around them can develop a broader ecosystem of engineers, network operators, cybersecurity specialists, software firms, cloud providers and AI businesses.

Cooling could become a competitive advantage

Electricity is only one component of data-centre economics. AI computing generates enormous amounts of heat, making efficient cooling increasingly important.

Bangladesh's geography may offer advantages. Properly designed facilities located near major rivers could employ modern closed-loop and liquid-cooling technologies while safeguarding water resources and river ecosystems.

There may also be opportunities around LNG infrastructure. LNG arrives at around -160°C and must be warmed before entering the gas network. With appropriate engineering and co-location, some of this cold energy—which is otherwise dissipated—could potentially be recovered for industrial and data-centre cooling.

This raises the possibility of integrated power-LNG-data hubs, where existing infrastructure operates as a coordinated system rather than in isolation.

Any such development would need to meet rigorous environmental standards, particularly regarding water use, thermal discharge, flooding risks and climate resilience.

Fibre allows electricity to travel as data

The third requirement is connectivity.

Bangladesh already has an extensive domestic fibre network and international submarine cable connections, with additional capacity under development. High-capacity fibre can connect computing facilities located near power and cooling infrastructure with customers both at home and abroad.

This changes the economics fundamentally.

Electricity is expensive to transport over long distances. Data is not.

Rather than exporting electricity directly, Bangladesh can use it domestically to process AI and cloud workloads before transmitting the resulting digital services through fibre networks to regional and global markets.

In effect, electricity can be exported in digital form.

Building a new export industry

Bangladesh's economic transformation has been driven by identifying comparative advantages and converting them into globally competitive exports. The ready-made garments sector demonstrated how infrastructure, entrepreneurship, labour and access to international markets can reinforce one another.

The digital economy could present another such opportunity.

Large-scale data centres can attract billions of dollars in long-term infrastructure investment. Around them can develop a broader ecosystem of engineers, network operators, cybersecurity specialists, software firms, cloud providers and AI businesses.

Equally important, the same infrastructure serving international clients could provide the computing capacity needed by Bangladeshi universities, researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses to develop their own AI capabilities.

Build where the infrastructure already exists

Bangladesh does not need to transform its power system overnight.

A practical first step would be to identify a limited number of Digital Infrastructure Zones where key requirements already converge: substantial generation capacity, strong grid connections, reliable gas or LNG supply, cooling resources and high-capacity fibre networks.

Large campuses could then be developed in phases as demand grows.

The government's principal role need not be direct investment. Instead, it should create conditions that encourage private and foreign capital by ensuring predictable long-term electricity arrangements, reliable energy supply, rapid grid and fibre connections, internationally recognised data-centre standards, efficient import procedures for specialised equipment and a stable regulatory framework for cross-border digital services.

Over time, renewable energy and battery storage could also be integrated, allowing the sector to contribute to a cleaner and more resilient electricity system.

From megawatts to megabytes

Bangladesh's excess generation capacity has long been viewed primarily as a financial challenge.

It may also represent an opportunity.

Much of the required infrastructure already exists. Power generation has been built. Fibre connectivity continues to expand. Existing LNG and river infrastructure may provide cooling advantages, while Bangladesh's young workforce offers the potential to develop the specialised skills the industry requires.

The challenge is to connect these assets through coherent policy and investment.

The industrial economy transformed electricity into manufactured goods. The digital economy increasingly transforms electricity into computing power and digital services.

If Bangladesh can align its energy, connectivity and digital infrastructure strategies, some of today's underutilised generating capacity could become the foundation of a new export sector—one that positions the country within the global AI value chain.

Bangladesh built power to support industrialisation. The next opportunity may be to use that same infrastructure to power the intelligence economy

Muhammed Aziz Khan is the Chairman of Summit Group. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.