Solar street lamps unlikely to be completed on time

The company which bagged the solar street lamps installation job at Tongi under Gazipur City Corporation would not be able to complete the assignment on time, opine experts.
The solar street lamp project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is being implemented by the Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED).
A solar power expert said the LGED awarded the job to a local firm- RFL.
He said as per contract RFL is to complete the installation job by May of the current year but already two months have passed and their progress was negligible.
He said, "I do not feel they would be able to complete the assignment within the timeframe of the contract."
Another solar power system installation company said it is quite impossible to complete installing more than 3000 solar street lamps in the next two months.
 The lamps would help save more than 300 kilowatts of electricity in a single area due to use of solar panels.
Street lamp project director Ahsan Habib said, "We have awarded the job to RFL and we hope they would be able to complete the project within the next two months time."
He said, "As far as I know they would import all the equipment for the project and they have already started civil construction work of installing pillars."
Mr Habib, also a LGED official, said all the bulbs would be LED and as per contract the solar panels and batteries would also be imported.
Currently Bangladesh is manufacturing world standard batteries and solar panels and most of the solar power projects are using local batteries.
The project director said the solar project in Tongi is a component of the City Region Development Project (CRDP) funded by ADB, KfW and CIDA.
Another engineer in the government's implementing department said in the project they have devised individual light posts, that is, every post will have its own solar panel and battery.
He said as a result if one or more posts are affected by storm or by other factors the entire system would not be in jeopardy.
He said due to individual panel and battery every light post itself would generate power and store it in the battery for use after dusk.
The LGED source said in many countries of the world solar street lights are powered from electricity generated in a mini grid by cable connection to each lamp post.
Another expert in the project said the awarded company does not have prior exposure in this field for such a big project.
He said though the company got the job in international bidding but there were many bidders who did have decade long experience.
When contacted with the RFL officials said, "We have already opened letters of credit for importing the equipment."
He said, "Though we are late, hopefully we would be capable to complete the work within two months."
If the project is successfully implemented within the timeframe it would pave the way for other big solar street light projects across the country that will help save electricity.