Speakers at a programme in Dhaka on Tuesday underscored the need for the formulation of a comprehensive policy on renewable energy in order to pave the passage for enhancing the use of renewable energy like solar power to meet the government’s target of generating 40 percent of electricity from green sources.
They said that to meet the government’s target of generating 300 MW of electricity from solar systems, there is a dire need for policy support to allow and encourage industry owners to install rooftop solar systems in their factories.
They were speaking at a roundtable discussion titled ‘Rooftop Solar System in Bangladesh: Prospects and Challenges’.
With support from Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), the roundtable was organised by The Business Standard at its conference room in Dhaka.
Nirod Chandra Mondal, Joint Secretary, Renewable Energy, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; Tazmilur Rahman, Deputy Director, KfW Office Dhaka; Alamgir Morshed, Executive Director & CEO, IDCOL; Md Enamul Karim Pavel, Head of Renewable Energy, IDCOL; Dr S M Nasif Shams, Associate Professor & Director, Energy Institute, University of Dhaka; Dipal Barua, renewable energy specialist and Councillor, World Future Council; and Mollah M Amzad Hossain, Editor, Energy & Power, spoke at the roundtable, says a press release.
Speaking at the programme, Nirod Chandra Mondal said that for the promotion of the generation of renewable energy like solar power on rooftops, the government is going to formulate a renewable energy policy soon. Besides, an energy hub will be established in the country with the capacity to generate up to 6,000 MW of electricity.
“Generation of electrocity from solar systems is not a problem; rather, there is a need for smart grid systems, which is a challenge for management of this huge volume of power,” he mentioned, adding, “We need to develop storage capacity.”
He, however, realised that renewable energy could have been properly evaluated in the integrated power master plan.
Tazmilur Rahman said the German-based KfW is sincere in providing all-out support to promote renewable energy in Bangladesh, and it wants to see the country explore every possible way to utilise solar energy, not only for generating electricity but rather to support heating systems using solar energy.
He urged IDCOL to facilitate this through a campaign to motivate people of all spheres to opt for this valuable source of energy for heating water in their households, offices, hotels, hospitals, and factories.
The IDCOL chief said the non-banking financial institute is providing all-out support to promote rooftop solar in industries. Nowadays, more industries are getting interested in installing solar power systems on the rooftops of their factories.
Md. Enamul Karim Pavel assured industries of its extended cooperation in installing rooftop solar systems, mentioning that these are very beneficial for the industries, and for 1 MW of electricity from rooftop systems, they can save up to Tk 102.9 million during the 20-year-long project tenure.
Speakers highlighted that the tariff on grid power is increasing day by day, but the cost of rooftop solar power remains the same. Considering that, the power from this green source will be more beneficial.
Supporting this, Nirod Chandra Mondal said that the day is not far when more industries will be compelled to shift to rooftop solar and other renewable sources, as grid electricity will be more expensive as the subsidy on that will be gradually waived.
A number of renewable energy experts and industry resources persons attended the programme and expressed their opinions.
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