Though the production cost of renewable energy, especially solar power, has substantially dropped in recent years, its share in the country’s power generation saw no jump. According to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the country’s grid-connected renewable energy share of the total power generation still persists below one percent. The government continued its focus on the promotion of fossil fuels, especially for costly power generation from rental and quick rental power plants to offset its rising annual financial loss.
The BPDB proposed to raise the per unit electricity tariff by 65.56 per cent to Tk 65.57 from the existing rate of Tk 5.17 arguing that it faces a loss of Tk 30,251 crore in revenue unless the sails through. The BPDB documents showed the government had to spend an average of Tk 43.42 per unit to generate electricity from diesel-fired plants, followed by Tk 15.51 per unit from furnace oil-fired plants, Tk 12.77 from coal-fired power plants, Tk 12.64 per unit from renewable energy (solar) plants, Tk 3.46 from gas-fired power plants, Tk 2.67 per unit from hydro plants, and Tk 5.95 from imported power in the fiscal year 2021-22.
The most important feature is that the cost of electricity from solar is much lower at Tk 12.68 per unit, while the cost of electricity generation from diesel is highest at Tk 43.42 per unit and Tk 15.51 per unit from furnace oil-fired plants. Renewable energy has a huge potential for power generation due to its significant cost reduction.
Lack of proper policy support with a budget is the main problem in the development of the renewable energy sector. The government had set a target to generate 40 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2041. To achieve the goal, Bangladesh needs innovative technology alongside foreign financial and technical support.
