Bangladesh: Capacity Development for Renewable Energy Investment Programming and Implementation

Energy / Renewable energy generation - solar

Bangladesh's' renewable energy potential is estimated at 3,666 MW, including potential solar energy of 2,680 MW -1,400 MW from solar parks, 635 MW from solar rooftops, 100 MW from solar home systems, and 545 MW from solar photovoltaic pumping for irrigation along with 637 MW from wind, 275 MW from biomass, 10 MW from biogas, 60 MW from small hydro, 3 MW from mini grid and micro grid, and 1 MW from waste to energy. Bangladesh has been slow to develop renewable energy, despite the country''s 2008 Renewable Energy Policy, and Bangladesh Vision 2021's plan to generate up to 10% of its power from renewable energy by 2021, and the government's 500 MW Solar Power Initiative. Land acquisition has been a major hurdle in developing utility scale solar photovoltaic power plants, as existing land policy restricts the use of agricultural land for large solar power plants. The government has encouraged private sector participation in renewable energy development through competitive bidding and unsolicited proposals. Multiple expressions of interests from private sector developers amounting to approximately 900 MW have been signed, but only a few of the proposed solar power projects have advanced due to land constraints and inability to reach financial closure.

The Government of Bangladesh is committed to meeting its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Accord, which includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by 2030 from the business-as-usual case. To meet this target, up to 1,000 MW of solar power installation is planned for medium-term development. However, given land constraints and the government's policy to retain as much land as possible for agriculture, utility scale solar photovoltaic power plants can be constructed only on marginal land, which poses big challenges for future scaling up. However, floating solar photovoltaic power systems are an ideal solution for Bangladesh as they do not compete with agricultural land, do not suffer from efficiency penalties caused by high ambient temperatures, and can be quickly deployed and built in stages. Bangladesh has large water reservoirs, but the potential of floating solar photovoltaic power has not yet been fully mapped. Some development partners are currently supporting wind and biomass resource mappings, while investment plans for strategic deployment of renewable resources is lacking.

Potential for floating solar photovoltaic power assessed

Projects for deployment of other renewable energy resources identified

Grid impact assessment completed

Updated grid code and operational guidelines proposed

Institutional capacity strengthened

ADB will engage consultants funded by ACEF following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions. ADB will engage consultants funded by CTF following universal procurement policy. Individual consultants will be recruited through open competitive bidding process. Given that the envisaged assignments are highly specialized, consulting firms will be recruited following open competitive bidding procedures, guided by quality-based selection method.

ADB engaged three consulting firms and three individual consultants to deliver distinct outputs under the entire TA. All trainings and envisaged activities have been completed. The final report is being finalized. The TA will be closing on 30 Dec. 2021.