The tariffs of electricity generated from renewable energy sources vary widely in Bangladesh, with private producers getting the highest price for selling electricity.
The private sector projects are charging US$0.13/Kwh of electricity as compared to the lowest $0.10/Kwh of public projects while the joint venture projects are charging a rate in between, according to a latest study report.
It said that the price variation is stimulating an uneven competition in the market and urges transparency in tariff determination for the sake of attracting more investment in the renewable energy sector.
Change Initiative, an organisation working on renewable energy in the country, prepared the report titled 'Follow the Renewable Energy Finance in Bangladesh' and shared its findings with the media on Thursday.
Investment in renewable energy projects in Bangladesh has increased in recent times with the government's green signal to many projects and approval to prices for purchasing electricity.
Bangladesh Power Development Board is the sole buyer of the electricity to be generated from the planned grid-connected projects.
According to the report, the private sector proposed 59 per cent of the planned renewable energy projects and would invest 62 per cent of the total funds estimated to be required for setting up the plants
Public investment would stand at US$312 million, 23 per cent of the total investment requirement while joint venture investment would be $212 million, 15 per cent of the overall investment requirement for the planned projects.
Bangladesh has so far installed 461 MW of renewable energy capacity, mainly solar, and projects of a total of 4115 MW capacity are at various stages of development.
The study report criticised the policy shift from promoting renewable energy to clean energy like nuclear.
Climate Finance Expert and Chief Executive of the Change Initiative M Zakir Hossain Khan said prioritising nuclear-like clean energy over proven renewable energy could create an unprecedented burden on Bangladesh in terms of safety, security, affordability, access to resources, and energy scarcity.
"Under no circumstances should the potential of renewable energy be nipped in the bud by undermining the jurisdiction of the energy regulation," he said.
He also expressed concern over the tendency of getting benefits through charging unreasonable tariffs and said it would jeopardise the immense potential of the RE expansion in the country.
The majority of the renewable energy projects are unsolicited, meaning those were initiated by the developers without competitive biddings. There are also higher tariffs for both unsolicited and large projects, the report mentioned.
In neighboring countries, regulatory authorities predetermine the tariff rates based on the size of the projects and publicly disclose comprehensive detailed cost estimates and tariff rates of various projects, he added.
"To build a smart Bangladesh, we must prioritise building a smart and green energy-dependent future," Mr Khan said.
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