WB project powers rural houses, irrigation pumps

Thousands of households and a good number of irrigation pumps are now using solar power in a renewable energy project supported by the World Bank (WB).
In a statement on Sunday, the lender said the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development II project has enabled more than 0.33 million households to get access to electricity.
The bank said the rate of access to electricity in the form of small unit Solar Home Systems (SHS) is growing fast at a rate of 50,000 units per month with the government's implementation support.
The state owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) is implementing the bank's second phase project by employing 49 non government participatory organisations (PO) with small credit facilities at low returns to the poor people.
The WB says Bangladesh's Solar Home System (SHS) programme is a successful example of public-private partnership (PPP).
It says the SHS meets the basic electricity needs of rural people, who would have otherwise been dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting.
The SHS project has increased study time for children, mobility and sense of security among women.
After the successful SHS project implementation, the RERED II will soon start supporting renewable energy-based mini-grids in remote rural areas to provide electricity for productive applications.
The solar mini-grid project pipeline comprises 8 projects with a combined capacity of about 1MW that targets the rural growth centers.
The mini-grids are expected to contribute to increased economic activities in rural areas.  The project has mobilised grant support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide grant support to the mini-grid schemes.
The report says International Development Association (IDA), the concessionary lending of the WB, would also support the mini grid project. The revealing report said the RERED II project has started to support solar irrigation pumps replacing diesel-run pumps. The solar irrigation pumps are reducing costs of irrigation to the farmers and also helping to save foreign exchange for importing diesel.
It said by providing a renewable source, the solar irrigation pumps are also contributing to reduced green-house gas emissions.
A total 50 solar irrigation pumps with a capacity of 3.3-11kWp are under construction. To provide matching grant support to the solar irrigation pumps, an amount of US$24.5 million has been approved from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF).
Currently more than 28 million households in Bangladesh still rely on traditional biomass fuels burnt in inefficient stoves.
With support from the RERED II project, IDCOL has embarked upon the improved cook stoves programme that will benefit rural women and children, who are exposed to indoor air pollution from inefficient stoves.  
The non government POs have been selected by IDCOL for implementing the cook stove program, and implementation is expected to start shortly, the report says.
The global lender says the project will also support the second phase deployment of energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and technical assistance to the power sector.