Bangladesh’s solar ambitions seem to be losing steam as 17 recently proposed solar-power plants, each offering reduced tariffs ever, have been left waiting for approval while some previously contracted ones lie in limbo.
Sources say the ‘bureaucratic dithering’ is frustrating sponsors, foreign investors and energy experts alike, as the current push – locally and globally – is for transition to clean, renewable energy to save the planet from disasters of global warming.
The fresh projects could have marked a breakthrough in the nation’s transition to clean energy, but insiders alleged Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) authorities were dragging their feet, even as the government pledges to boost renewables generation under its new Renewable Energy Policy 2025. Unless the evaluations move forward soon, the country risks missing out on affordable, homegrown solar power, and with it, leaving its 2030 renewable-energy goals cloaked in uncertainty.
Officials and project sponsors claim the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has ‘intentionally’ slowed down the evaluation process for these solar plants, despite the offering of significantly lower tariff rates than previous ones.
Bidders for the new projects proposed tariffs ranging from 7.89 to 9.06 US cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), much lower than the bids approved during the previous Awami League government.