The government has undertaken several projects under a fresh move to boost solar-power generation to feed the green and cheap energy to the national grid, officials said Wednesday.
It has decided to set up solar power plants with a total capacity of 3.0 megawatts (MW) in the country's northwestern part to add the power to the national grid by June next year, they said.
Power Division officials said two solar parks will be set up in Iswardi and Sirajganj with a total of 3.0MW solar panels by investing Tk 460.4 million.
After two ongoing solar-power projects -- Kaptai 5.0MW and Hatia 1.0MW -- the Power Development Board has decided on this one, said a senior official.
As per the government plan, plants for generating 500 megawatts of solar power will be set for supplying to the consumers.
The PDB has already acquired 2.34 acres of land for Joynagar Grid Substation in Iswardi and 0.52 acres of land in Sirajganj, he said.
"We have sent project proposals to the Planning Commission for approval. Soon after the approval we will start work to install the plants," the official said.
Production cost of the power from the proposed plants will be only Tk 1.50 per kilowatt hour.
Another Power Division official said the government wants to generate 10 per cent of total power needs from the renewable-energy sources, including solar, wind and biomass.
As per the initiative, it has already taken up two projects at Kaptai and Hatia. Besides, the government has given licences to some private power producers to generate solar power for commercial use.
The PDB has started work to set up a 5.0MW solar power plant in Rangamati's Kaptai Hydropower Station area -- first of its kind meant for supplying power to the national grid.
The power produced from the solar plant will be thrown into the national grid via a substation of the Kaptai Hydropower Station. The project, involving an estimated cost of Tk 192.59 crore, would be set up on 22 acres of PDB land.
It is also working to set up a 1.0MW solar plant under an integrated power- generation project in the backwater island locality of Hatia.
The state-owned power development board has also allowed a private company to install a separate 3.0MW solar plant in Sharishabari of Jamalpur district.
Officials said the Sharishabari project on ten acres of PDB land would be run as an independent power producer (IPP).
He added that the constructing company would bear the costs under build-own-operate (BOO) basis and provide power to the local grid, while the PDB would pay the bill as the lone buyer. The approximate initial cost of per-unit power will be Tk 20.
On the other hand, the PDB also has plans to set up a 30MW solar park on the banks of Dhorola River in Kurigram as an IPP on BOO basis.
Several companies have already shown interest in the new-generation power venture. Some 118 acres of PDB land has been earmarked for the solar park.
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Fresh move to boost solar-power generation
FHM Humayan Kabir | Published: June 18, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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