PROINSO, Joules Power win Asian Power Awards for 28MW project in Bangladesh

PROINSO, a global leader in the solar energy market, and its partner Joules Power have won the Asian Power Awards 2018 for a 28MWp project in Bangladesh, reports PTI.

The award ceremony was held on Sept 19 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The project in Teknaf was selected by the judges as the “Solar Power Project of the Year – Bangladesh”. The project is the first large-scale solar plant in Bangladesh, and started commercial operations earlier this month.

John Yeap, partner and head of energy for Asia at Pinsent Masons; Mark Hutchinson, VP and head of gas & power consulting at Asia Pacific Wood Mackenzie; Mike Thomas, partner at The Lantau Group; Petteri Harkki, regional director for Asia at Poyryand; and Gervasius Samosir, associate partner of Solidiance judged the award.

The 28 MW project is the first step towards the Bangladesh government’s target of producing 2 GW of solar power by 2021.

Standard Chartered Bank, with a risk guarantee provided by GaurantCo part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), has arranged the project's foreign currency financing. 

A consortium of Bangladeshi banks led by the One Bank Limited has arranged the local currency component.

“This project is a demonstration of both PROINSO’s business philosophy and global capabilities in solar projects. We believe that a strong collaboration between global and local businesses and institutions is the key to achieving long-term sustainable growth and reaching renewable energy targets, as defined by the Paris Agreement," said Kunal Chandra, managing director of PROINSO South Asia.

The solar PV plant will meet up to 80 percent of the electricity demand of the Teknaf region and will result in reduction in CO2 emission savings of 20,000 tonnes per year, with an estimated 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to be prevented over 20 years.

“This project showcases the immense opportunity there is for solar IPPs or independent power producers in Bangladesh, and paves the way for future projects in the country,” said Nuher L Khan, managing director of Joules Power and Technaf Solartech Energy.

The finance structure has also been unique and a first of its kind for Bangladesh with the involvement of GaurantCo, which shows international confidence and the bankability of the power purchase agreement, and the implementation agreement the Bangladesh government has to offer, he said.