PROINSO and client Joules Power have been announced as winners of the Asian Power Awards 2018 at a gala ceremony on September 19 attended by more than a hundred senior executives and prime industry figures in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The 28 MWp project in Teknaf was selected by the judges as the “Solar Power Project of the Year – Bangladesh”. The project is the first large-scale solar plant in Bangladesh, and commenced commercial operation earlier this month.
The awards were expertly judged by John Yeap, Partner and Head of Energy for Asia at Pinsent Masons; Mark Hutchinson, VP and Head of Gas & Power Consulting at Asia Pacific Wood Mackenzie; Mike Thomas, Partner at The Lantau Group; Petteri Harkki, Regional Director for Asia at Poyryand; and Gervasius Samosir, Associate Partner of Solidiance.
The 28 MW project is the first step towards the Bangladeshi government’s target of producing 2 GW of solar power by 2021.
The project’s foreign currency financing is being arranged by Standard Chartered Bank, with a risk guarantee provided by GaurantCo part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). The local currency component is being arranged by a consortium of Bangladeshi banks led by One Bank Limited.
Kunal Chandra, Managing Director of PROINSO South Asia said: “This project is a demonstration of both PROINSO’s business philosophy and global capabilities in solar projects. We believe that a strong collaboration between global and local businesses and institutions is the key to achieving long-term sustainable growth and reaching renewable energy targets, as defined by the Paris Agreement.”
The solar PV plant will meet up to 80% of the electricity demand of the Teknaf region and will result in reduction in CO2 emission savings of 20,000 tons per year, with an estimated 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions to be prevented over 20 years.
“This project showcases the immense opportunity there is for solar IPPs [independent power producers] in Bangladesh, and paves the way for future projects in the country,” said Nuher L. Khan, Managing Director of Joules Power and Technaf Solartech Energy Limited.
“The finance structure has also been unique and [is] a first for Bangladesh with the involvement of GaurantCo, which shows international confidence and the bankability of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and the Implementation Agreement (IA) the Bangladesh government has to offer.
“We would sincerely like to thank the prime minister’s office of Bangladesh, The Power Division of the Energy Ministry of Bangladesh, [the] Bangladesh Power Development Board and the District Commissioner’s office of Cox’s Bazaar, for the immense support we have received for the successful implementation of the project.”
