Zillur Rahaman :
Bangladesh has adopted Renewable Energy (RE) Policy on 18 December, 2008 to ensure the use and development of RE in the country. The government has enacted the Sustainable and RE Development Authority – SREDA Act-2012 to identify solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, biomass, biofuel, geothermal, river currents, ocean waves, etc. as RE sources. In 2016, the Power System Masterplan (PSMP) set a target of 10 percent (2470 MW) of total power generation capacity by 2021 for RE shares, but due to some limitations, the target was not achieved. According to the latest data, the country now has the capacity to generate 20,595 MW of electricity from conventional sources. On the other hand, the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources is only 700.61 MW, which is only three percent of the total production capacity which is less than the desired target level.
According to the government, after the formation of PSMP in 2016, the government had planned to generate a total of 2110.65 MW of electricity for the implementation of the solar park project by connecting a total of 36 grids in the public and private sectors in the last 5-6 years. Although contracts have been signed for 26 projects so far, only five projects have been implemented so far. Among the five implemented projects with a capacity of about 88.5 MW are 50 MW Gauripur, Mymensingh, 7.5 MW Kaptai, 8 MW Panchagarh, 20 MW Teknaf and 3 MW Sarishabari Solar Park.
Private enterprises played a pivotal role in setting up the first solar home system in Sylhet, Bangladesh in the mid-eighties. Subsequently, the Solar Home System (SHS) program was extensively expanded by Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCL) which is currently the largest RE program in Bangladesh since the launch of SHS in 1996. About 4.50 million solar home systems have been installed so far and the number is increasing due to the integrated program adopted by the government through financial institution IDCL.
Bangladesh lags far behind South Asian neighbours Pakistan and India in the use of RE in power generation. Bangladesh generates 3 percent of its electricity from RE, compared to 24.16 percent of its total power generation capacity in India, which is about 90,399 MW. The total power generation capacity of India is 3,74,199 MW (excluding hydropower). On the other hand, Pakistan’s total power generation capacity is 37,402 MW (excluding solar and wind) as against five percent (1,870 MW) from renewable sources.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, in 2010, about 90 percent of the people in the cities had access to electricity and 42 percent in the villages. Seven years later, in 2017, about 76% of the people got electricity. Although the power infrastructure is not flawless and the result is still load shedding. In this case, setting up more thermal power plants may be a good solution. However, in the future, RE will be the main source and driving force of electricity.
Bangladesh is very suitable for solar power because the coastal areas of the country get about 11 hours of clear sunlight every day. The rate of insulation in these areas is 3.8 kw/m2/day and 6.4 kw/m2/day. The Bangladesh government has already introduced solar home systems, or SHS for short, for power supply that are not connected to the power grid. This program has helped more than 4 million families. About 50,000 SHSs are being set up every month since 2009. The World Bank has called it the fastest growing solar home system activity in the world. Clearly, in the electrification roadmap, coal-fired power plants have become undeveloped in Bangladesh. So RE will be the main driving force and base of the future.
However, there are some weaknesses in this case. Bangladesh is known for its monsoon winds and solar energy is highly dependent on the weather and the weather in Bangladesh is cloudy at certain times of the year. RE and solar plants are also very expensive. Yet most of the vulnerabilities can be solved through large solar power projects. RE is now widely accepted in the world and most countries have set targets for RE use to meet their electricity and energy needs. Solar energy is currently the most promising of the various RE sources and has limited use of biogas and biomass. Most of the world’s fossil fuels are used to generate electricity, drive motor vehicles, and heat homes. To this end, various research processes are underway internationally to introduce sustainable power systems using RE, sustainable transportation systems and energy efficient household products rich in green technology.
Energy experts say the use of RE in Bangladesh has not reached the desired level due to lack of commitment at the policy-making level, land crisis, lack of coordination among state institutions and a strict bureaucratic mindset for conventional energy. However, RE in Bangladesh has now reached the take-off stage. At the take-off stage, all sectors have to face huge challenges. If these challenges can be tackled, RE will be the driving force of the future in Bangladesh as well as in other countries of the world.
(The writer is a banker and freelance columnist)
