Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on Wednesday signed an agreement with German company ib vogt to install a 50 MW solar PV (photovoltaic) power plant at Mirsarai Upazila in Chattogram.
As per the contract, the BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant over a period of 20 years at a rate of $10.94 per kilowatt hour (each unit).
German company ib vogt won the project through a bidding process in 2019. That time the exchange rate was Tk 80 per US dollar as against the current rate at Tk 124 in open market.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid and senior officials from both the side were present at the signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka.
The function was also addressed by Power Secretary Habibur Rahman and BPDB chairman Mahbubur Rahman. Addressing the signing ceremony, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid urged the German company to protect the hills while developing the project.
"You must protect the hills although you are setting up an environment friendly project", he told the function. Nasrul Hamid has also said the government has set a goal to achieve "zero carbon" in energy sector by 2050 under which 40 percent electricity will be generated from clean energy sources by 2041.
Some 10,000 MW of solar power will be generated from solar power by 2030 which is now 600 MW, he added. As per the contract, the German company will implement the project on 160 acres of land within 15 months.
Currently, the plant will be set up at hilly area in Mirsarai upazila by Sonagazi Solar Power Company, a subsidiary of the iv vogt. Initially Sonagazi was supposed to be the site for the project. But later it was changed by the sponsor company.
