Renewable energy continues to bring socio-economic benefits by creating numerous jobs worldwide.
About 1 lakh 37 thousand people have been employed in the renewable energy sector in Bangladesh that now holds the fifth position in the world in terms of employment in the solar power sector.
According to the latest figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), China is the top employer in the solar power sector, the second is Japan, the third the United States while India is in the fourth position. Bangladesh is followed by Vietnam, Brazil, Malaysia, Germany and the Philippines.
The accounting of employment is direct and indirect. Here the whole supply chain (value chain) is highlighted.
Earlier Bangladesh had attained outstanding success in the field of green energy as it secured the second position in producing renewable energy (RE), especially off-grid solar solutions,” according to REN21's Renewables 2020 Global Status Report (GSR).
IRENA is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.
IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.
With more than 180 countries actively engaged, IRENA promotes renewable resources and technologies as the key to a sustainable future and helps countries achieve their renewable energy potential.
The seventh edition of Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review shows that jobs in the sector reached 11.5 million globally last year, led by solar PV with some 3.8 million jobs, or a third of the total.
After solar energy, 25 lakh jobs have been created in the bio-fuels. Then there is hydropower and wind power. About 20 lakh and 12 lakh people are working in these two sectors respectively.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need for renewables to meet social, economic and environmental needs. IRENA’s recently-released Post-COVID Recovery Agenda found that an ambitious stimulus programme could create up to 5.5 million more jobs over the next three years than a business-as-usual approach. Such an initiative would also allow the world to stay on track for creating the 42 million renewables jobs that the agency’s Global Renewables Outlook projects for 2050.
The government has taken various initiatives to enhance generation of renewable energy as part of its efforts to ensure energy security keeping carbon dioxide emissions at a low level. It has set a target to increase renewable energy generation to 2,000MW, 10 percent of the total generation, by 2021.
Mohammad Alauddin, Chairman of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority, told Bangladesh Post, “The whole world is now leaning towards renewable energy. The Bangladesh government is also more sincere in this regard. Several initiatives such as implementation of solar net metering policy, installation of solar mini grid, home system and irrigation pumps etc have been taken.
Several solar power plants are being planned. We are also trying to install a floating solar power system. Besides, a survey has been done on wind power. We are also planning how to expand it in a profitable way.”
Dipal Chandra Barua, President of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA) told Bangladesh Post, “When we started working on the first solar home system in 1996, many said it would not be possible to install more than 1,000 systems. The government rewarded us after we set up 10,000 systems.
At the time I said we would install 1 million systems. To many it seemed unrealistic. But all fears have been proven false. Around six million Solar Home Systems (SHS) have been set up in remote areas across the country with direct patronization of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which is currently directly and indirectly benefiting about 3 (three) crore disadvantaged rural people. This is the largest and most globally renowned Solar Programme.”
Dipal further said “We can generate at least 2,000 MW of electricity by 2021 from solar irrigation pumps and rooftop solar panels alone. By doing so, the goal of generating electricity from renewable energy within the next year will be achieved effortlessly.”
“Besides, RE Projects that can be implemented, like floating solar power plants, solar- diesel hybrid mini cold storage, electrification of primary/secondary schools through renewable energy, electrification of rural areas with street lights, power plants and so on,” he continued.
On June 2, a report by IRENA said the electricity generation cost from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind is declining by 13 percent each year. In the last 10 years, the generation cost of solar power has decreased by 82 percent and wind power by 39 percent.
“If renewable energy-based power plants were built instead of the world's 500,000 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, it would save $23 billion a year and reduce carbon emissions by 180 billion tons. In that case, the world's total carbon emissions will be reduced by five percent.”
Currently the generation cost per unit of solar power plants is on an average 6.8 cents (Tk 5.78). The generation cost of wind power is 5.3 cents (Tk 4.50) on land and 11.5 cents (Tk 9.77) at sea. However, the generation cost of new solar power plants will be 3.9 cents (Tk 3.31), which is 43 percent less than the cost in 2019.
‘The generation cost per unit from fuels like oil and coal is 6.6 cents (taka 5.61),’ the report says. However, the cost is higher in Bangladesh due to the import of coal and oil. The average power generation cost per unit is Tk 8.5 to Tk 9.