German-led group wins bid to set up 50 MW solar plant in Bangladesh

A German-Bangladeshi consortium has won a tender to build a 50 MW solar plant in Chittagong.

The Bangladeshi government’s cabinet committee on public procurement today approved the contract to develop a solar project near the 32/33 kV substation at Baraiyarhat.

German solar developer ib vogt GmbH and local partner AG Agro Industries Ltd will set up the plant on a build, own and operate basis, procurement cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said.

The government will buy the electricity generated at the site for $0.1094/kWh under a 20-year arrangement.

Solar progress

Ib vogt, which claims on its website to have 1.15 GWp of solar generation capacity worldwide – and to have a 5 GWp development pipeline – beat Norwegian rival bidder Scatec Solar ASA to land the deal.

The Bangladeshi government is procuring solar capacity under its Private Sector Power Generation Policy-1996 legislation to expand the penetration of renewables. Dhaka wants 10% of the nation’s electricity to come from clean energy next year and has introduced a net metering regime to drive solar deployment.

The authorities have also mandated rooftop PV on all state-owned buildings and expect that directive to add 300 MW of solar capacity within four years. Of the 604.67 MW of renewable energy generation capacity in Bangladesh, 370.54 MW of it is solar.

Low-cost financing for solar is being provided by the authorities and multilateral development partners.

By Syful Islam