Clean energy helps to save on bills

Bangladeshi consumers are initially put off from using energy-efficient products because of high prices but they do not think about the savings in bills, said an official of Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Idcol) yesterday.

“The high investment requirement for starting up a renewable energy project pushes up the prices of the products. But energy savings will reimburse the cost,” said SM Monirul Islam, deputy chief executive officer of Idcol.

He was addressing a media briefing at the InterContinental Dhaka ahead of an international clean energy summit.

Islam said Idcol, a state-owned non-bank financial institution, has invested around Tk 2,000 crore in the renewable energy sector and was working to make this form of energy popular. Currently, around 3 percent of Bangladesh's energy is generated from renewable sources, he added.

Titled “Bangladesh Clean Energy Summit 2019”, the conference will be held on March 10-11 at Bangabandhu International Conference Center.

Idcol is organising the summit to create awareness among consumers about the benefits of using energy-efficient products.

About 100 stalls of local and international manufacturers of different countries will exhibit products at a fair on the sidelines of the summit. The show will remain open for all from 9:30am till 8:00pm.