Bangladesh, China form company to generate renewable electricity

State-run North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday signed an agreement to form ‘Bangladesh-China Power Company (renewable)’, the power and energy ministry said in a statement.

The new jointly-owned company will build solar and wind-based power plants with a capacity of up to 500MW.State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Ahmed Kaikaus and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming attended the signing ceremony via video conference.

At present, most of the electricity generated in the country comes from power plants based on fossil fuels. The power generation capacity of the country’s 138 plants, excluding captive, is 20,373 MW. Of this, 636MW is generated using renewable energy sources.

The government plans to increase the country’s electric output to 60,000 MW by 2041, with at least 10 percent of the power being generated from renewable sources.State Minister Hamid said the government will continue to provide incentives to increase the use of renewable energy.

“Due to the scarcity of non-arable land, it is not possible to set up large-scale power plants using solar energy. Work is being done on rooftop solar power and floating solar power plants. Initiatives to generate electricity from waste and wind are also moving forward. ”

Currently, 1,220 MW of electricity is being generated from renewable energy sources under 23 projects, he added.