State Minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the government was planning to offer subsidies to help the country’s renewable energy sector to flourish, yesterday.
“The subsidies will be provided in two separate schemes for the urban and rural areas and a guideline will be made for using land for the installation of solar power plants,” he added while addressing a roundtable discussion for stakeholders on the “Revised Renewable Energy Policy,” in the capital.
The roundtable was jointly organised by state-owned Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), fortnightly magazine Energy & Power and German International Cooperation Agency.
“The renewable energy policy did not match the present context, and that made it unpopular in the urban areas, but the rural people had adopted it,” he said.
He further assured stakeholders that the ministry will soon ensure the implementation of SREDA.
Power Division joint secretary Siddique Zobair, said in his keynote speech that it was necessary to revise the existing renewable energy policy in order to create a positive attitude towards renewable energy.
“The government has been emphasising on renewable energy for power generation. For this, it will mark some places in coastal areas and the hill tracts to use them for the projects,” Power Division secretary Monowar Islam said.
“The government has been working closely with Nepal and Bhutan to import hydroelectricity,” he added.
“No country would be able to develop its renewable energy sector without subsidies. So, our government has to provide subsidies in this regard and power purchase agreements with the stakeholders should be set on a long term basis,” said former chief advisor’s special assistant Prof M Tamim.
“There should not be a set target for renewable power production like 5% or 10%. The target should be set like the conventional power sector for its development,” Power Cell director general Mohammad Hossain said.
With a vision to provide affordable and reliable electricity to all by 2021, the government set an ambitious goal to generate 5% of total power generation in the country from renewable sources by 2015, and rising to 10% by 2020, by passing the Renewable Energy Policy 2008.
The government also plans to revise the Renewable Energy Policy to allow waiving of income taxes of foreign and local investors for 15 years. The draft revised policy also suggested foreign companies to form joint ventures.
According to the draft, a foreign investor in the renewable energy sector will also enjoy a waive of taxes on the earnings from technical know-how, technical assistance, royalty, and the tax on the interest on foreign loans. They would also be able to transfer investment, income and profit to other countries.
The draft also said entrepreneurs would be waived from taking licenses from the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission for installation and operation of a renewable power plant with less than 5MW capacity.
It also said the price of renewable energy will be set by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.
A renewable energy producer, however, will be able to decide whether to sell their output to the Power Development Board or the power distribution companies or a consumer, the draft said.
Moderated by Energy & Power editor Mollah Amzad Hossain, the roundtable was also addressed by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission chairman A R Khan, Power Division additional secretary Tapos Kumar Roy, Rural Electrification Board chairman Brigadier General Moin Uddin, IDCOL chief executive officer Mahmood Malik and Prof Saiful Haque from the Institute of Renewable Energy Department, Dhaka University, among others.