BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH

The country has huge potential for renewable energy especially Solar PV installation, as it is surrounded by the top Solar PV market globally such as China and India. The country receives a moderate level of Solar radiation on daily basis (GHI 4.5 kWh/m2), which can be converted into reasonable sources of energy through the photovoltaic route. Installed capacity of Solar contributes around 70% of the total renewable installed capacity in the country, which is a positive sign but if we consider the overall contribution of Solar PV from all other sources of Power, Solar installed capacity contributes just 2.12% as per the latest available data provided by Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA).

Thermal Power still contributes a dominant share in the energy mix, which has more than 80% of the installed generation capacity in the country. It is also observed that Coal will be the major contributor to electricity generation as the country opted to increase its dependence on coal to 30 percent in 2041 from 7 percent in the current scenario. Heavy Fuel Oil and High-Speed Diesel are the major sources of electricity generation after gas (45%).

It is only reasonable to state that among all types of RE sources, Solar energy, especially Solar PV technology is the most relevant and promising one for Bangladesh. It has experienced a remarkable growth trend globally in the last few years as well. The global weighted average Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of large-scale Solar PV plants has significantly dropped, while the market has grown and investment in the sector has increased.

The installed capacity of the country has crossed 25 GW from all sources of energy, the installed capacity of the Solar PV was around 532.69 MWp, followed by Hydro with 230 MW, Wind with just 2.9 GW. Wind Power remained unexplored, most recent study conducted by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the country, the preliminary results of this technical potential analysis reported that for Wind speeds of 5.75–7.75 ms-1, there are more than 20,000 km2 of land with a gross Wind potential of over 30 GW.