Grid integration guideline fails to make a success of solar irrigation

FE Team | Published: March 22, 2024 23:51:02

The government's guideline for purchasing electricity from solar irrigation pumps failed to draw adequate response from stakeholders and the government is now thinking of forming a high-powered inter-ministerial committee involving concerned ministries and entities in the sector, reports UNB.
According to official sources, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) published a policy guideline titled: "Grid Integration Guideline for Solar Irrigation Pump" in July 2020.
The main purpose of the guideline was to facilitate solar pump operators to sell their idle electricity to distribution entities and also the distribution entities' purchase of electricity from pump operators under a specific policy.
The idea of purchasing electricity from solar-run irrigation pumps came from the government's success in purchasing power from rooftop solar plants installed in office and industrial buildings, SREDA officials said.
During the off-season, the government will buy electricity from the solar irrigation plant operators. Under the plan, pump operators will be able to sell their idle electricity to the national grid using local distribution grid lines.
But "Grid Integration Guideline for Solar Irrigation Pump" failed to make any significant breakthrough in setting up solar irrigation pumps to replace the diesel-fired pumps.
So far, about 6000 pumps, out of 1.34 million diesel fired pumps, were converted to solar-run pumps, said a SREDA official.
But the stakeholders do not agree with such figures. Dipal C Barua, who is deeply involved in solar irrigation and has been implementing a number of projects in Kustia and Dinajpur districts, said so far about 3000 irrigation pumps were set up across the country.
He, also former president of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA) said that replacing the diesel-fired pumps with solar-pumps reduced the cost of irrigation by 40-50 percent.
"For a crop season, farmers now spend Tk 2000 for a land while they had to pay Tk 4000 for irrigation by diesel-fired pumps," he told UNB.
But such a project is individually not attractive for a single farmer and also for distribution companies to buy idle power, he observed with his experience of installing about 30 irrigation pumps in Pabna.
There must be a unique business model to make the solar irrigation initiative where it will be lucrative for both pump operators, formers and utilities, he said.
Expressing a similar opinion, a senior SREDA official said the Power Division is now thinking of forming an inter-ministerial committee to evolve a business model to make the solar irrigation project successful.