UNB, Dhaka :
As US firm SunEdison has failed to make any progress in implementation of the 200 MW Teknaf Solar Park project, the government has decided to renegotiate with the company the tariff for buying power from the plant once it is completed.
According to an official document obtained by UNB, the Power Division took the decision at a review meeting on the implementation of renewable energy-related projects held on January 23.
The high-powered meeting found that there was no progress in SunEdison’s Teknaf Solar Park Project even in the last one year although Southern Solar Power Limited, a special purpose company of the US firm, signed a contract on January 8 last year to set up the 200 MW grid connected solar park within 15 months.
As per the agreement, state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) is supposed to pay Southern Solar Power Limited 17 US cents (equivalent to Tk 13.26) for each unit or kilowatt-hour electricity from the solar park.
The government estimated that it would buy approximately 6482.4 million units of electricity from the company over a 20-year period at an estimated cost of Tk 8,595.66 crore.
The government has, however,decided not to purchase electricity at the present rate and instead it would renegotiate the tariff with the company.
“SunEdison’s failure is very much frustrating. The US firm obtained the project on an unsolicited basis with much higher tariff compared to other similar projects, but it couldn’t prove its efficiency,” a top Power Division official told UNB requesting anonymity.
As US firm SunEdison has failed to make any progress in implementation of the 200 MW Teknaf Solar Park project, the government has decided to renegotiate with the company the tariff for buying power from the plant once it is completed.
According to an official document obtained by UNB, the Power Division took the decision at a review meeting on the implementation of renewable energy-related projects held on January 23.
The high-powered meeting found that there was no progress in SunEdison’s Teknaf Solar Park Project even in the last one year although Southern Solar Power Limited, a special purpose company of the US firm, signed a contract on January 8 last year to set up the 200 MW grid connected solar park within 15 months.
As per the agreement, state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) is supposed to pay Southern Solar Power Limited 17 US cents (equivalent to Tk 13.26) for each unit or kilowatt-hour electricity from the solar park.
The government estimated that it would buy approximately 6482.4 million units of electricity from the company over a 20-year period at an estimated cost of Tk 8,595.66 crore.
The government has, however,decided not to purchase electricity at the present rate and instead it would renegotiate the tariff with the company.
“SunEdison’s failure is very much frustrating. The US firm obtained the project on an unsolicited basis with much higher tariff compared to other similar projects, but it couldn’t prove its efficiency,” a top Power Division official told UNB requesting anonymity.
