A 35MW solar power plant in Manikganj has gone into commercial operation, supplying electricity to the national grid.
“The plant has been supplying electricity to the national grid since it started its commercial operation in March this year,” said Imran Chowdhury, country head of Sungrow Power Supply Company Ltd, who also worked for the project as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.
Spectra Solar Park Ltd, (SSPL) — a joint venture of Bangladesh Spectra Group and China’s Shunfeng Investments Limited (SIL) — developed the project at Shibalaya upazila in Manikganj with $15 million financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity from this independent power producer (IPP) project at a rate of TK 11.12/kWh ($0.13) under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
This is the 4th IPP project that came into operation, although more than 20 such projects were awarded to private sponsors.
Earlier, 4 IPP projects — 50 MW (AC) Solar Park Gauripur, Mymensingh by HETAT-DITROLIC-IFDC Solar Consortium, 8 MW Solar Park in Panchagarh by Parasol Energy Ltd., 20MW (AC) Solar Park Teknaf Upazila, Cox’s Bazar by Joules Power Limited (JPL), and 3 MW Grid-connected PV Power Plant at Sharishabari in Jamalpur by Engreen Sharishabari Solar Plant Ltd, owned by IFE-CPC-JEL Consortium — went into operation.
Imran Chowdhury said the Chinese mother company launched Sungrow Renewable Energy Bangladesh Limited (SREBL) as a new company to work as an IPP project developer beyond its current job as an EPC contractor to make a significant contribution to National Solar Energy Roadmap up to 2041.
Energy experts say that Bangladesh is far behind Pakistan and India, among its South Asian neighbours, in utilising renewable energy resources for electricity generation.