Grameen Shakti plans to double green tech sales

Grameen Shakti has set a target to double solar home system (SHS) sales in 2010 and establish more biogas plants and improved cook stoves to expand green and sustainable energy.
It aims to sell 2.20 lakh solar home systems in 2010. The 'not-for-profit' company said it sold 1.13 lakh solar home systems in 2009.
Along with focusing on expanding the sales of improved cook stoves, the organisation will increase more biogas plants -- a jump by almost four times -- from over 4,000 units in 2009 to 16,000 this year.
“We want to expand and promote renewable energy technologies in rural areas to enable more people in the off-grid areas to access electricity,” said Abser Kamal, acting managing director of Grameen Shakti, a member of the Grameen family.
Grameen Shakti plans to establish 10 lakh SHSs and one lakh biogas plants, and construct 10 lakh improved cook stoves by 2012.
In addition to saving on kerosene costs, Kamal said it would create thousands of new green jobs and generate income opportunities for the rural people.
Established in 1996 to provide green energy solutions to rural areas with no electricity, GS has so far installed over 3.6 lakh PV (photovoltaic) SHSs, benefiting around 30 lakh people, according to Kamal.
As per installation, the power generation capacity of these SHS is 17.5 MW.
“These SHSs reduced consumption of thousands of litres of kerosene that these households would have used otherwise,” said Kamal. By one estimate, he said, about Tk 180 crore worth of kerosene has been saved, thanks to the SHS.
The Grameen Shakti official said the organisation crossed the 3.5 lakh SHS installation mark mainly due to faster sales since 2006.
“In the initial years, sales were slow. But we have registered about 50 percent growth a year from 2006,” said Kamal.
He linked the sales growth of SHSs to a rise in awareness among the rural population.
Network expansion by Grameen Shakti and offers to sell SHSs both on credit and cash also helped lure buyers to green energy technologies in the rural areas.
The company also hit stride by establishing biogas plants by using cow dung, poultry droppings and organic waste, enabling rural households to enjoy gas for cooking and electricity.
In five years to 2010, Grameen Shakti established around 11,000 biogas plants. Owners of many of these plants are now generating income by selling excess gas to other neighbourhoods.
“Currently, we are installing 500 biogas plants a month,” said Kamal.
In a bid to promote sustainable energy technology, the organisation now makes a mark in making improved cooking stoves, which are believed to cut fuel wood consumption by up to 50 percent than traditional stoves.
According to Grameen Shakti, improved cooking stoves help households reduce firewood consumption from 20 kilograms to 40 kilograms, saving between Tk 250 to Tk 500 a month.
Kamal said the company is now examining the feasibility of solar thermal water heaters, so that consumers can heat water without using gas or electricity.
In response to consumer demand, the company also started installing SHS in homes on the urban grid areas.
“But our main focus is on the rural areas. We are not promoting the solar power systems in urban areas. But if anyone wants to establish solar systems in urban areas, we respond to them,” said Kamal, adding that most do not advance after knowing the installation costs.
“Urban households want different options, like running fans, lights and refrigerators. But when we share the prices, they lose interest.”
“We do not get any soft loan to establish solar systems in urban areas. That is one reason installation costs are higher.”
Presently, state-owned financial institution IDCOL (Infrastructure Development Company of Bangladesh Ltd) offers soft loan and grants to organisations working to expand green energy, mainly solar home systems in the off-grid rural areas.