Renewable energy producers allowed to supply power thru' national grid
M Azizur Rahman | Sunday, 10 August 2008
The country's renewable energy producers will be allowed to add electricity to the national grid to help them earn money and mitigate supply shortfall.
They generate 15 megawatt (MW) of power by using solar power, biogas and wind.
"The sponsors of the renewable energy producers will be able to provide electricity to their consumers through the state-controlled electricity national grid," power secretary Dr M Fouzul Kabir Khan told the FE.
He said the state-owned power entities will purchase the renewable electricity offering attractive rates to encourage more production of such energy.
Investments from both local and foreign companies will be encouraged under a proposed renewable energy policy, said the power secretary.
"We are now working on adoption of the country's first-ever renewable energy policy to woo investments for electricity generation from unconventional resources," Dr Khan said.
He said it will help harness the potentials of renewable sources for power production. It will facilitate mass use of clean energy and thus mitigate the nagging electricity crisis across the country, he added.
Under the policy, the government is considering introducing a mandatory provision of use of solar power system in multi-storied buildings and apartments for lighting and water heating.
Necessary changes will also be brought to the existing building code to incorporate the mandatory use of solar power system in high-rise buildings.
The government power cell has already drafted the renewable energy policy under which a guideline will be prepared to boost electricity generation from renewable energy sources.
The government has taken the initiative to formulate the renewable energy policy as it struggles to cope with the mounting electricity demand in industries, farming, commercial activities and households.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed last month inaugurated a national campaign for increased use of renewable energy and energy conservation across the country.
Currently, the country's total power generation is hovering around 3,500 MW against the estimated demand for over 5,000 MW a day.
Several public, private and non-governmental organisations have installed a number of renewable energy units like solar, wind, bio-gas across the country with financial assistance from donor agencies to ease electricity crisis.
The proposed renewable energy policy will also help explore community-based renewable energy generation for different applications and its multipurpose use in off-grid areas of Bangladesh.
Currently, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has a number of solar power projects supplying electricity to shops and over 150 families, including those of tribals and fishermen.
The state-owned LGED also installed some ten wind-mill energy projects, one micro hydropower project and over 1,000 biogas projects across the country.
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) has installed solar power system for over 800 consumers of two riverine islands of Narshingdi.
The Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) has installed over 180,000 solar home systems through its partner organisations.
It has targeted to finance 900,000 solar home systems by the year 2012 with assistance from World Bank, Global Environment Facility, Asian Development Bank, KFW and GTZ.
Grameen Shakti, another local NGO, has installed over 77,000 solar power systems and 500 biogas plants for over 700,000 people of different coastal areas.
They generate 15 megawatt (MW) of power by using solar power, biogas and wind.
"The sponsors of the renewable energy producers will be able to provide electricity to their consumers through the state-controlled electricity national grid," power secretary Dr M Fouzul Kabir Khan told the FE.
He said the state-owned power entities will purchase the renewable electricity offering attractive rates to encourage more production of such energy.
Investments from both local and foreign companies will be encouraged under a proposed renewable energy policy, said the power secretary.
"We are now working on adoption of the country's first-ever renewable energy policy to woo investments for electricity generation from unconventional resources," Dr Khan said.
He said it will help harness the potentials of renewable sources for power production. It will facilitate mass use of clean energy and thus mitigate the nagging electricity crisis across the country, he added.
Under the policy, the government is considering introducing a mandatory provision of use of solar power system in multi-storied buildings and apartments for lighting and water heating.
Necessary changes will also be brought to the existing building code to incorporate the mandatory use of solar power system in high-rise buildings.
The government power cell has already drafted the renewable energy policy under which a guideline will be prepared to boost electricity generation from renewable energy sources.
The government has taken the initiative to formulate the renewable energy policy as it struggles to cope with the mounting electricity demand in industries, farming, commercial activities and households.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed last month inaugurated a national campaign for increased use of renewable energy and energy conservation across the country.
Currently, the country's total power generation is hovering around 3,500 MW against the estimated demand for over 5,000 MW a day.
Several public, private and non-governmental organisations have installed a number of renewable energy units like solar, wind, bio-gas across the country with financial assistance from donor agencies to ease electricity crisis.
The proposed renewable energy policy will also help explore community-based renewable energy generation for different applications and its multipurpose use in off-grid areas of Bangladesh.
Currently, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has a number of solar power projects supplying electricity to shops and over 150 families, including those of tribals and fishermen.
The state-owned LGED also installed some ten wind-mill energy projects, one micro hydropower project and over 1,000 biogas projects across the country.
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) has installed solar power system for over 800 consumers of two riverine islands of Narshingdi.
The Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) has installed over 180,000 solar home systems through its partner organisations.
It has targeted to finance 900,000 solar home systems by the year 2012 with assistance from World Bank, Global Environment Facility, Asian Development Bank, KFW and GTZ.
Grameen Shakti, another local NGO, has installed over 77,000 solar power systems and 500 biogas plants for over 700,000 people of different coastal areas.