Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks at a programme organised at a city hotel on Wednesday as part of celebrating installation of three million solar home systems across the country. BSS photo Emphasising the government’s increasing importance of renewable energy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the target has been fixed to bring three million more families under renewable solar energy system through Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) over the next three years, reports UNB. “We’ve set a target to provide solar energy facility to three million more families over the next three years through IDCOL,” she said while inaugurating a celebration programme at a city hotel marking the landmark of installing three million solar home systems. Hasina said there are huge potentials of solar-based irrigation pumps in the country. At present, the number of diesel-run irrigation pumps in the country is 14 lakh. “For these, we’ve to import a huge quantity of diesel spending our valuable foreign exchange.” Besides, she said, to run the 150,000 electricity-run irrigation pumps the power grid has to bear an immense pressure. “If a portion of these pumps can be put under the solar-based irrigation system, the import of diesel will decrease significantly and the pressure on the national grid will ease.” Finance Minister AMA Muhith, PM’s adviser for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Affairs Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, World Bank Country Director Johaness CM Zutt and IDCOL executive director and CEO Mahmood Malik, also spoke at the programme, chaired by IDCOL chairman and ERD secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin. IDCOL was established on May 14, 1997 by the then Awami League government. The Company was licensed by the Bangladesh Bank as a non-bank financial institution (NBFI) on January 5, 1998. Since its inception, IDCOL is playing a major role in bridging the financing gap for developing a medium to large- scale infrastructure and renewable energy projects in Bangladesh. The company now stands as the market leader in private sector energy and infrastructure financing in Bangladesh. IDCOL is managed by an eight-member independent Board of Directors comprising four senior government officials, three representatives from the private sector, and a full-time Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. It has a small and multi-skilled work force comprising financial and market analysts, engineers, lawyers, IT experts, accountants and environmental and social safeguard specialists. IDCOL’s stakeholders include the government, private sector, NGOs, multilateral and bilateral institutions, academics and the people of Bangladesh at large. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina underscored the need for transforming the country’s existing carbon-based energy system into a smart, clean and effective energy one suiting to the 21st century to ensure sustainable economic development. She said to achieve this target taking public and private initiative, environmental planning and technological roadmap as well as global cooperation in large extent is needed. Hasina said IDCOL’s Solar Home System is one of the largest and fastest growing off-grid renewable energy programmes in the world. The primary objective is to supply clean electricity in the energy-starved off-grid rural areas of Bangladesh and hence, the supplement the government’s vision of ensuring access to electricity for all by 2021. During the last 15 years, IDCOL has been playing a significant role in infrastructure development and generation of renewable energy and emerged as the biggest partner in financing these sectors, she added. The Prime Minister said her government has formulated renewable energy policy and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority Act laying emphasis on production and distribution of environmentally sustainable renewable energy. The use of solar power has been increased manifold as her government waived import duties and tax on solar accessories and channeling soft loan and grant to the people through IDCOL, Hasina mentioned. Now people can buy a of 20-watt solar home system to run three bulbs and mobile chargers at Tk 12,000 only. The Prime Minister said rural people now can afford buying solar home systems at a monthly installment of less than their kerosene cost due to various initiatives of the government. Against the backdrop of huge power shortage, the present government has taken emergency, short, medium and long-term plans to revitalise the ill-fated power sector soon after assuming of office in 2009. As a result, the capacity of electricity generation has now risen to 11,418 mw, she said. Apart from importing 500-MW electricity from India, the government has signed a deal with Russia to set up Nuclear Power Plant which would add 1000 MW of more electricity to the national grid by 2018 and another 1000 MW by 2020, Hasina said. To make electricity facility available for all by 2021, the PM said, her government wants to enhance the electricity generation to 24,000 mw of which 10 percent would come from the renewable energy. Hasina said projects have been undertaken for the production of biogas, installation of solar-powered irrigation pumps and mini-grid system through IDCOL. Later, the Prime Minister talked to a beneficiary of solar energy at Char Janazat of Shibchar upazila in Madaripur district through videoconferencing.
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