The Bangladeshi Government is set to receive a $185m credit from the World Bank to add 310MW of renewable energy generation capacity, as part of an agreement.
World Bank’s financing also includes a $26.38m loan and a $2.87m grant from the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF) of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIFs).
The funds will be provided to the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Project, which focuses on the expansion of the utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV), as well as rooftop PV to new markets across the country.
The project will initially involve the development of a 50MW grid-tied solar PV generation plant in the Feni district implemented by the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB).
Economic Relations Division secretary Monowar Ahmed said: “The project will be important for Bangladesh to tap into its potential for renewable energy generation.
“Further, it will help reduce a substantive amount of CO2 emissions per year, which is in line with the country’s nationally determined contribution to the Paris climate agreement.”
The project will also financially support the Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCOL) to manage a renewable energy financing facility for rooftop and utility-scale solar PV.
Furthermore, Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) will be able to identify locations for large-scale projects and promote net metering policy for rooftop PV installations.
World Bank Group Bangladesh and Bhutan acting country director Dandan Chen said: “Since the last decade, the World Bank has helped Bangladesh increase access to electricity in rural areas through renewable energy.
“Now, we are going one step further to help Bangladesh expand renewable energy generation on a larger scale.”
The Scaling-up Renewable Energy Project also aims to raise financing of up to $212m from the private sector, commercial banks and other sources.
