Bangladesh plans to generate 2,000MW solar power in a year amid energy crisis

Solar energy accounts for less than 100MW of Bangladesh’s current capacity to produce electricity, which is over 25,000MW

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 March 2023, 03:35 PM
Updated : 14 March 2023, 03:35 PM

The government has chalked up a plan to raise solar power generating capacity to 2,000MW over the next year in a bid to boost use of renewable energy amid a power crisis.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has told the electricity distribution companies to swiftly initiate pilot projects to put the plan into motion.

“We must generate more power from the Sun,” he said.

Bangladesh’s current capacity to produce electricity is over 25,000MW but solar power accounts for less than 100MW of that.

In the midst of heightened concerns over global warming, countries are rerouting dependency on renewable energy instead of burning fossil fuels.

Earlier, the government took up a net metering project, which allows consumers to save up electricity by using solar energy directly and feed solar electricity in excess into the national grid.

But as it did not produce expected results, the government was working on the new plan, Nasrul said at a workshop on Tuesday.

He heavily criticised electricity distribution companies’ indifference towards renewable energy.

“We expect more of them. Our engineers are not able to come up with an idea even if their lives depended on it.”

“We don’t want to stay stuck with what did not work. Technology is changing. Solar panels are cheaper now and take less space. We need to take these factors into account.”

Recently, India’s Stage Energy Service and Bangladesh’s Technobin Energy Service carried out a feasibility study on multifaceted use of land for the renewable energy project in the country.

A chief goal of the project is to create a business model for agriculture-based renewable energy.