State Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that the generation of 9930 MW of electricity from renewable sources is in the pipeline in Bangladesh.
He informed this while Winnie Estrup Peterson, the outgoing Ambassador of Denmark, called on him at his ministry office in the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday. During this time they discussed various issues related to mutual interest.
He also informed that Bangladesh is in process to import electricity to be generated from renewable sources from neighbouring countries.
Thanking the Danish envoy for his country’s interest in Bangladesh Nasrul Hamid said that Bangladesh has given special importance to renewable energy.
He said that 1194 MW of electricity is generated from renewable sources, but 825.23 MW of electricity is coming to the national grid.
Another 1262 MW power generation projects are underway through 30 projects from renewable energy and 8668 MW power generation projects are under process, he added.
Expressing interest in producing 500 MW of electricity from offshore wind, the ambassador said Danish companies are very interested in cooperating with Bangladesh to harness the blue-economy.
According to an article recently published in a daily from Dhaka, Bangladesh has three wind energy projects functioning, two in progress, and seven in planning. The running projects are 1000 kW Capacity Wind Battery Hybrid Power Plant and another 1000 kW Capacity Wind Battery Hybrid Power Plant in Kutubdia Upazila of Cox's Bazar and 0.9 MW Grid Connected Wind Turbine Power Plant at Mahuri Dam in Feni. Though wind energy is only viable in coastal, offshore, riverside, and other open areas with strong winds, a report on the renewables technical capacity by Coastal Development Partnership (CDP) funded by Bread for the World of Germany estimated the potential for wind energy is to be 150 GW. Therefore,there is a need for further investment in wind energy projects, including the development of appropriate technologies, grid integration, and policy frameworks to promote wind energy development.
Bangladesh promised to meet the Climate Vulnerable Forum's goal of a renewable energy-only economy by mid-century and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. For that the government of Bangladesh is formulating all of its policies taking into consideration the renewable energy. Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 recognizes that this country has significant potential for renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, and that the deployment of renewable energy can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase energy security. Later in Vision 2041 the government plans to generate 20,000 MW of electricity from renewable sources by 2041. The National Solar Energy Action Plan also optimizes for increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to 10% by 2021, 15% by 2025, and 20% by 2030.
