The country is going to celebrate installation of two million solar home systems (SHS) and also launch one million echo-friendly improved cooking stoves today.
State-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), a non-banking financial institution under the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Finance Ministry, has installed the SHS with the financial support of the World Bank and other donor agencies in partnership with private sector business entities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the country.
The World Bank has termed the Bangladesh’s initiative as world’s fastest growing solar home programme.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate a three-day celebration programme at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel today. The programme includes a three-day Green Energy Expo-2013 which will showcase the best practices of renewable and energy efficiency technologies in Bangladesh.
Officials said that after the success in installing SHS, the IDCOL has now taken up the improved cooking stoves programme as part of the government policy to promote eco-friendly cooking system.
Bangladesh’s tremendous success in SHS has come only in just one decade since the programme started in 2002.
“We’ve taken up a programme to set up another four million SHSs by 2015. The programme may even achieve the target ahead of the time,” said Mahmud Malik, executive director and CEO of the IDCOL.
Different lending agencies including World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), JICA of Japan and KfW of Germany have been supporting the IDCOL programme, he said.
With the IDCOL’s technical and financial support, different private business firms and NGOs are now installing 70,000 solar home systems per month on average.
In a recent evaluation about the SHS project, the World Bank said that this has been possible due to the successful partnership between the government-owned IDCOL and the non-government organisations (NGOS) like the Grameen Shakti, Rural Services Foundation and many others.
Solar home systems are an economically viable solution for providing electricity in villages where grid electricity would be too expensive to build, it said.
The solar home systems consist of a solar panel, a battery, and a charge controller. The battery is charged by solar energy, which in turn provides electricity to the households. Solar home systems meet the basic electricity needs of rural people, who would have otherwise been dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting.
The World Bank said the electricity provided from the systems has helped children spend more time studying, and new opportunities are emerging for village enterprises. Rural markets can now remain open longer hours after dark and conduct brisk businesses, thanks to the solar lights.
The World Bank has provided about US$492m for the Project that ended in December 2012. Recognising the success of this programme in providing electricity in the rural areas of Bangladesh, the World Bank approved, in September 2012, US$155m for the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project II to further scale up the solar home systems and other renewable energy options.
Beside the solar home system, the IDCOL has taken an initiative to replace one million (10 lakh) rural unhealthy conventional stoves with eco-friendly improved cooking stove across the country.
Officials said the conventional stoves, now randomly being used by the rural people, are blamed for a huge exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) which causes acute respiratory infection. Because, these ovens burn huge biomass like woods, straw and also emit huge black smokes, but generate less heat.
“But the improved cooking stoves will be efficient having 50-70% less fuel cost, but generate more heat. Women will be protected from indoor air pollution as it will have no black smoke and no heat misuse,” said IDCOL General Manager Monirul Islam.
