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Bangladesh’s largest solar park in Gaibandha ready for inauguration
Trial production at the 200MW plant began in late November last year
Courtesy
Probir Kumar Sarker
Published: April 9, 2023 11:19 AM | Last updated: April 9, 2023 10:45 AM
Bangladesh has achieved another milestone in renewable energy sector as a private firm has completed construction of the country's largest solar power plant, with a capacity of 200MW, in Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha.
The power project has been implemented at the cost of around Tk1,800 crore on a land of around 700 acres in the char areas of Khodda and Lathshala at Tarapur Union.
Located near the Teesta River, it has already become a tourist attraction in the area.
State Minister Nasrul Hamid shared some photos of the plant that has 520,000 solar panels on Twitter on Thursday night.
The plant is expected to start commercial production at the soonest, project officials said.
Teesta Solar Limited started building this plant in 2018. Beximco owns 80% share of the plant while the rest by a Chinese company.
On November 30 last year, the plant started supplying 90-140MW of electricity on a trial basis to the Rangpur grid substation through a newly-built 34km transmission line.
According to the power purchase agreement signed on October 26, 2017, the government will buy electricity at a rate of Tk13.9 per unit for 20 years.
Solar share growing
Currently, the largest solar plant in Mongla produces over 100MW. With seven other small units operating at different parts of the country, Bangladesh's solar industry supplies over 230MW to the national grid every day.The solar share is expected to grow fast over the next few years – thanks to the government's prompt steps to shift toward clean energy in phases.
The 3.28MW plant at Sarishabari in Jamalpur is the country's first grid-tied solar power facility that came into commercial operation in 2017.
The other key players operating solar parks are the consortiums of HETAT-DITROLIC and IFDC Solar (50MW in Mymensingh), Spectra Engineers Limited and Shunfeng Investment Limited (35MW in Manikganj); Joules Power Limited (20MW in Cox's Bazar), and Parasol Energy Ltd (8MW in Panchagarh).
Mega projects underway
Bangladesh is implementing and considering over a dozen massive solar power plants, including three with a capacity of 1,000MW each, to join the gigawatt club of China, India and the UAE.One of the three is being set up at Swarna Dwip (formerly Jahazzair Char) in Noakhali. In February last year, the US-based Pacific Energy Group, LLC (Pacific Energy), through its subsidiary Eleris Energy Limited, Hong Kong, signed a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with the Bangladesh Army Welfare Trust, on building the plant.
Bangladesh Army's 33rd Infantry Division has been in charge of the 370sq-km island since 2013 and has been implementing different development projects alongside setting up a base for exercises.
The other major projects currently being reviewed by the government or being implemented are located at Sreemangal of Moulvibazar (300MW), and at Mongla in Bagerhat and Thakurgaon (200MW each), Energy Ministry sources told Dhaka Tribune.
Since 1996, Bangladesh has installed over six million Solar Home System (SHS) units, and thousands of rooftop units, street lights and solar-powered telecom BTS, and solar irrigation units.
Moreover, many private firms have installed small non-grid solar power plants in their industries, contributing to the promotion of clean energy.
IEEFA: Bangladesh can generate 1,700MW-3,400MW of power from renewables
Bangladesh needs up to US$1.71 billion annually till 2041 to achieve its target to generate 40% of electricity from renewable sources, shows IEEFA report
