Make power from green sources cheaper: energy adviser
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission should reduce the proposed tariff on the electricity that will be generated from renewable energy and added to the national grid, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the prime minister's energy affairs adviser, said yesterday.
The energy regulator has proposed the price in the range of Tk 11 and Tk 14 per unit, but Chowdhury said the price should not exceed Tk 5.
He cited the case in Dubai, where a 100-megawatt solar power plant is being built; the cost of electricity from the plant will be Tk 4 a unit.
But BERC Chairman AR Khan said such a price is not viable for Bangladesh at present.
They spoke at a seminar styled 'Feed-in Tariff (FIT) regulations: promotion and development of renewable energy in Bangladesh', co-organised by the Dhaka University's Institute of Energy, The Asia Foundation and Australian Aid.
With support of Australian Aid, The Asia Foundation and Institute of Energy are currently working with BERC to introduce Feed-in Tariff (FIT) regulations, to boost private investment for grid-connected power generation from renewable energy sources.
The FIT system is a concept popular in the West for promoting expensive green power alongside conventional power generation.
The system guarantees the renewable energy producer electricity tariff higher than the existing rates.
It also offers cost-based compensation for renewable energy producers, providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance projects.
As per the draft regulation, BERC proposes Tk 11.32 each unit as “levelised tariff” for wind power, Tk 12.72 for utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power project and Tk 14.13 for small scale solar PV power project with a life cycle of 25 years.
The government is aiming to generate at least 10 percent of the requisite power from renewable energy by 2020.
In pursuit of this goal, the government has actively supported the uptake of solar home systems in off-grid areas. The cumulative capacity of existing SHSs is around 150MW.
The country now produces 200-250MW electricity from renewable energy sources, according to Saiful Huque, director of Institute of Energy.
“We need to introduce FIT mechanism in a bid to accelerate the deployment of private sector-led medium scale renewable energy plant investment.”
Since April 2013, the energy regulator has been working with FIT regulations and it is now at a pre-publication stage, said Selim Mahmood, a member of BERC.
The rate proposed in the draft FIT regulations is not final, he said, adding that the rate will be finalised after seeking opinions from stakeholders and conducting public hearings.
Greg Wilcock, Australian high commissioner in Bangladesh, said his government is focusing on promoting renewable energy in Bangladesh due to its immense potential.
AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice-chancellor of DU, also called for generating more electricity from renewable energy to ensure sustainable development.
Over the years, renewable technology is getting cheaper due to its mass production and intense competition globally, he added.
The draft FIT regulations for promotion of renewable energy development in the country has been prepared by India's Idam Infrastructure Advisory Pvt Ltd under the guidance and support of Institute of Energy on behalf of BERC.
Syed Al-Muti, director for economic development of The Asia Foundation, also spoke.