While Bangladesh has covered a lot of ground in its quest to transition to green energy, we are still miles ahead from meaningful levels of transition. With the country especially struggling to pick up the tab for its oil and gas imports, now is the time to go all in when it comes to green energy.
According to a 2023 report published by BloombergNEF, the cost of solar power generation from utility scale projects in Bangladesh vary between $97-135 per MW, as opposed to $110-150/MWh from coal and $88-116/MWh from gas respectively. This is further bolstered by a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, which showed that Bangladesh could save between $477 million to $1 billion if industries, commercial buildings, and other establishments installed 2,000MW rooftop solar panels. This means that solar power generation is not only a net positive for the environment, but it would also effectively be cheaper for the country in the long run.
According to a study by South Asian Network on Economic Models, Bangladesh’s total green energy generation accounts for a mere 1.9% of its total power output. And with the administration increasing LNG and other fossil fuel imports, any transition to green energy seems even farther away.
This needs to change.
Our energy policies need an urgent course correction. Relevant ministries need to sit with private sector stakeholders and discuss potential methods through which commercial entities can set up their own green energy generation infrastructures, while private participation in the mass production of green energy generation needs to be incentivized more, doing so will enable us to cut costs down even more.
Green energy holds a lot of promise in not only offering environmentally sound forms of energy but of also generating thousands of jobs in the process.
According to a 2023 report published by BloombergNEF, the cost of solar power generation from utility scale projects in Bangladesh vary between $97-135 per MW, as opposed to $110-150/MWh from coal and $88-116/MWh from gas respectively. This is further bolstered by a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, which showed that Bangladesh could save between $477 million to $1 billion if industries, commercial buildings, and other establishments installed 2,000MW rooftop solar panels. This means that solar power generation is not only a net positive for the environment, but it would also effectively be cheaper for the country in the long run.
According to a study by South Asian Network on Economic Models, Bangladesh’s total green energy generation accounts for a mere 1.9% of its total power output. And with the administration increasing LNG and other fossil fuel imports, any transition to green energy seems even farther away.
This needs to change.
Our energy policies need an urgent course correction. Relevant ministries need to sit with private sector stakeholders and discuss potential methods through which commercial entities can set up their own green energy generation infrastructures, while private participation in the mass production of green energy generation needs to be incentivized more, doing so will enable us to cut costs down even more.
Green energy holds a lot of promise in not only offering environmentally sound forms of energy but of also generating thousands of jobs in the process.
Our energy policies need an urgent course correction
