Private sector welcomes govt move
Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) is likely to start its works within a month or two as the new organisation has got most of the necessary procedural approvals from the government’s highest level, said a top official at the Power Division.
The ‘SREDA Bill 2012′ was passed by parliament in November 28 last year, aiming to promote renewable energy across the country. After the passage of the bill, the Power Ministry moved for receiving necessary procedural approvals from different ministries and organisations.
It has prepared an organogram for the new organisation with a plan to appoint over 100 staff, including a 16-member board with a chairman as its head.
Of the 16-member board, the chairman and its five members will have the executive power with regular salaries while the rest 10 members will be appointed from different private and public bodies as non-executive members.
The five executive members will have the responsibility of dealing with five subjects such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, finance, admin and knowledge.
A deputy secretary at the Power Division told UNB that they have received most of the approvals from different levels of the government.
“Now we’re waiting for the Finance Ministry’s clearance. Once we receive it, we’ll move for appointing its chairman and executive members,” he said adding that the other staff will then gradually be recruited.
“We hope, Sreda should be able to start its functioning within a month or two,” said the Power Division official.
Officials said when Sreda will start works all kinds of activities of renewable and sustainable energy will come under its authority. Sreda will act as a coordination body for the development of the renewable energy in the country.
At present, different ministries and departments, including the Power Development Board (PDB), the Rural Electrification Board (REB), the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), autonomous bodies like IDCOL and also the private sector have been working on renewable energy projects.
But the lack of an authoritative organisation in renewable energy sector creates problems for them to maintain coordination among them. As a result, the growth of the sector is not taking place as expected.
According to the officials, the government had announced a renewable energy policy and also a plan to increase its share in power generation from the present level of one percent to 5 percent by 2015 and 10 percent in 2020.
And that means that the country’s power production from renewable energy will go up to 650 MW in 2015 when the total power production is expected to be 13,000 MW. But the growth of the renewable energy is not taking place maintaining that pace.
Now, private and public sectors’ stakeholders hope that Sreda will work as an effective organisation to give a fresh pace in development of the renewable energy sector.
Welcoming the government move for forming Sreda, president of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA) Dipal Barua said this new body will give the private sector a proper platform to work with the government in a coordinated manner.
“So far, we don’t have any authority where we could share our ideas about the development of renewable energy. Sreda will give that opportunity,” he added.
Munawar Moin, managing director of Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy, the biggest private sector investor in solar energy, said an organisation like Sreda is essential for the promotion of private investment in the renewable energy sector.
Source: UNB Connect
