The country is set to sign the first ever Joint Venture Agreement with China to install 500 MW of renewable energy generation project in 'One Belt, One Road' initiative to launch its journey towards clean energy.
The two countries will sign the Joint Venture Agreement to form a joint venture company tomorrow (Tuesday) to develop solar capacity in Bangladesh's northern districts of Pabna, Sirajganj and Gaibandha and a wind
power generation near the port of Payra in the south, according to the Power Division.
Earlier, the cabinet endorsed the proposal of the Power Division last year.
"We established 'Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt.) Limited Renewables' to develop four solar power projects and a wind power projects here. We will provide land and China an estimated $500 million investment," State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told the Daily Observer.
It would almost double Bangladesh's current clean energy capacity. Our aim is to produce 10 percent electricity from renewable, he added.
State-owned North-West Power Generation Company Limited and China's National Machinery Import and Export Corporation established the Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt.) Limited Renewables to develop the proposed projects.
"A feasibility study of plants in Pabna and Payra has started. A 60 MW solar plant will be installed there. We acquired 205 acres of khas - government-owned, non-cultivated - land," North-West Power Chief Executive AM Khurshedul Alam told the Daily observer on Sunday.
He said a feasibility study was also going on in Payra area to accumulate data of wind there.
"We would see a visible development of new renewable capacity within three years. Moreover, the Company intends to implement renewable energy-based power plants without cost of energy.
The projects would almost double the Bangladesh's current capacity, which stands at 601 MW. Almost 368 MW of that figure comes from solar, of which 71.86 MW is grid connected, according to the Power Division.
According to the proposal, about 35 MW to 60 MW capacity solar power projects would be installed in different parts of the country under the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative in future.
The government has approved plans for 1 GW of renewable capacity with projects up to 200 MW in scale. A 20 MW solar facility in the Teknaf sub-district is the largest solar project in the country.
Bangladesh has a target to install 2.47 GW of renewable energy projects by 2021. A significant amount of this capacity will be developed through solar and wind projects.
Recently, the International Finance Corporation, a sister concern of the World Bank, collaborated with the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) of Bangladesh to develop a 35 MW solar project, a public-private partnership (PPP) model in the Kushtia district.
State-owned Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh Limited (EGCB) has also floated a tender for 50 MW (AC) of solar power projects at Sonagazi under Feni to fulfill the government commitment to establish 10 percent electricity from renewable sources.
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