As part of the government campaign for the expansion and installation of renewable energy sources in the country, the ratio of renewable energy sources will be 40% in power generation in the future.

“The country is currently generating electricity from renewable energy sources at 730.62MW with the installation of 5.8 million solar-home systems across the country as part of the global green and clean energy campaign,” State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told BSS on Friday.

He said being encouraged by the government’s steps and incentives for the expansion of renewable energy in the country, entrepreneurs in the private sector have been setting up solar home systems and rooftop solar panels.

“We will bring 100% of people under electricity coverage within the Mujib Borsho and around 99% people already have access to electricity, as power generation capacity reached 25,227MW,” Nasrul Hamid said.

According to the ministry, solar energy is the most potential source of renewable energy in Bangladesh due to its geographical location. It said it has been possible to generate 490MW power from solar energy, of which 250MW electricity is coming from solar home systems, installed as a stand-alone off-grid in remote areas.

The government has been introducing net metering systems to encourage renewable energy-based distributed generation in the country. The metering system saves electricity cost of the consumers.

At present, 730.62MW of electricity is coming from renewable sources, which will be 40% of the total electricity generation in 2041.

The present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina installed 122 more power plants in the country and provided new electricity connections to 29.2 million consumers after assuming power in 2009.

Now the number of power consumers is 40 million, which was only 10.8 million in 2009.

The government has a plan for universal access to quality electricity in a cost-effective and affordable manner.

Realizing the ever-increasing demand of electricity for socio-economic development and progress of the country, the government has initiated sub-regional cooperation in the field of power generation, grid connectivity and overall energy security.

Cooperation has been initiated through Saarc, Sasec and Bimstec for sharing of hydropower through cross-border connectivity and capacity development.