Bangladesh launches project to install 1 mln solar home systems

The view of Ningxia Tianjingshan Photovoltaic (PV) Power Plant in Zhongwei, neighboring Tengger Desert, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Feb. 15, 2012. (Photo DB: Xinhua)

Bangladesh has launched a project to support the installation of 1 million solar home systems this year, mostly in the country’s rural areas where grid electricity is not economically feasible or hard to reach.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday evening launched the project under the patronage of the state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) at Sandwip, an island in the Bay of Bengal in the country’s Chittagong district, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

At the launching ceremony, Hasina said her government stressed the need for more renewable energy such as solar and wind-driven power generation.

She said the government has already exempted full duty on import of solar power equipment and was providing soft-term loans through IDCOL and subsidies.

Through the government-owned financial institution, she said the government has also undertaken initiative to set up 20,000 biogas plants to reach the environment-friendly and renewable energy to the doorsteps of the people.

Iqbal Mahmood, chairman of IDCOL, had earlier told Xinhua that more than 1 million homes and shops in Bangladesh have installed solar home systems with support from the state-owned company.

The company estimates that each solar home system saves at least 61.80 U.S. dollars worth of kerosene every year and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 375 kilograms annually.

IDCOL, established in May 1997 by the Bangladeshi government as a non-bank financial institution, is playing a major role in bridging the financing gap for developing medium and large-scale infrastructure and renewable energy projects in Bangladesh. <Xinhua>

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