Bangladesh and China form company to provide renewable electricity

• 3 years ago (2020-07-15)
• David Flin

Asia 846 Solar 242

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The Bangladesh Power and Energy Ministry said that the country’s state-run North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) have signed an agreement to form Bangladesh-China Power Company Renewable. The new jointly-owned company will build solar and wind-based power plants with a capacity of up to 500MW.

At present, most electricity generated in Bangladesh comes from power plants driven by fossil fuels. Current power generation capacity of Bangladesh’s 138 plants is 20,373MW. Of this, 636MW is generated using renewable energy sources.

The government plans to increase the country’s electricity output to 60,000MW by 2041, with at least 10 per cent of the power being generated from renewable sources.

Nasrul Hamid, the Bangladesh State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, said that the government will continue to provide incentives to increase the use of renewable energy. He said: “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 wind and waste are also moving forwards.”