Idcol offers Tk 69cr for solar power plant

State-run Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol) is set to provide a Tk 69 crore loan to a private company to establish a 10-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in the northwestern border town of Tetulia.

Sympa Solar Power Ltd (SSPL), a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Symbior Solar Siam Ltd and local poultry and feed producer Paragon Group, will set up a solar power park investing Tk 95 crore to supply electricity to the national grid. Renewable sources now account for 2.82 percent of the total generation capacity of Bangladesh.

“This is the first grid-connected solar power plant that we are going to finance,” said Enamul Karim Pavel, head of renewable energy at Idcol, the market leader in private sector energy and infrastructure financing in Bangladesh.

The state-run non-bank financial institution will provide the fund at an interest rate of 7 percent for 15 years with a two-year grace period, said officials of Idcol, which has provided Tk 5,200 crore in financing for solar electricity generation.

An agreement between Idcol and the SSPL is expected to be signed tomorrow, said Pavel. 

The SSPL is setting up the plant on 42 acres of land, said Moshiur Rahman, its chairman.

“We have started developing land and we expect that equipment will come by the end of November. We hope to go into operation at the end of February next year,” he said.

The SSPL is one of the nine companies which signed agreements with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to sell the electricity they generate to the state-run utility agency. 

The BPDB will buy electricity from the SSPL at $0.13 per kWh under a 20-year contract. Till date just one from among the nine has launched commercial operations.

The government has so far approved proposals from the private sector for 22 on-grid solar power parks. The total power generation capacity of the proposed projects is 1,370MW, according to Power Division.

The government earlier targeted to avail 10 percent of its power generation, meaning 2,000MW of electricity, from renewable sources by 2020.

Fossil fuel-based plants generate the majority of the electricity in the country, according to data by the Sustainable & Renewable Energy Development Authority.