DHAKA: Bangladesh’s caretaker leader has ordered all government institutions including ministry buildings and schools to install solar panels to ease chronic power problems in a country regularly hit by deadly heatwaves.
The South Asian nation of 170 million people has set itself a target of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2030 — a four-fold increase — and rising to 30 percent by 2040, the government said in a statement.
“Bangladesh is lagging far behind its neighboring countries,” the statement issued by the office of interim leader Muhammad Yunus read.
“Only 5.6 percent of our total requirement is currently met from renewable sources,” it added, noting that in neighboring India, it is 24 percent and in Sri Lanka, nearly 40 percent.
The government’s rooftop solar program will see all government offices, schools, colleges and hospitals installed with panels immediately, the statement issued late Thursday said.
The micro-finance pioneer said the panels would be installed and operated by private sector companies, unlike the largely failed push by since-ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to install panels by using government power agencies.
“The private sector will handle overall maintenance and keep the systems operational for their own business interests,” the statement said.
“The government will only provide them with rooftop access.”
The government has also initiated tender processes for 55 solar power plants with a total 5,238 megawatts capacity.
Bangladesh relies heavily on importing cross-border power from neighboring India, as well from Nepal, especially when demand soars during the blistering heat when consumers rely on energy-hungry air conditioners to keep cool.
Dhaka also began construction of the Russia-backed nuclear plant at Rooppur in 2017.
The much-delayed 2,400-megawatt project will be Bangladesh’s largest power station by generating capacity once fully operational.
Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes
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Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes
- The South Asian nation of 170 million people has set itself a target of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2030
India to provide $450 million to cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: India has committed $450 million in humanitarian assistance to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday on a visit to the country.
The cyclone killed more than 640 people when it swept across the South Asian island last month, causing floods and landslides that inflicted about $4 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described the storm, which affected more than two million people, as the most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit, told a media briefing in Colombo he had handed a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dissanayake, committing to a “reconstruction package of $450 million.”
While $350 million will take the form of “concessional lines of credit,” the remaining $100 million will be given as grants.
Jaishankar also noted the 1,100 tons of relief material, along with medicine and other necessary equipment, sent to India’s southern neighbor in the cyclone’s immediate aftermath.
“Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority,” he said, detailing the Indian military’s assistance in providing portable bridges.
Jaishankar said India would also look at other ways to mitigate the losses, including encouraging Indian tourism to Sri Lanka.
“Similarly, an increase in foreign direct investment from India can boost your economy at a critical time,” he added.
The cyclone struck as Sri Lanka was emerging from its worst-ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
Following a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund approved in early 2023, the country’s economy has stabilized.
str-abh/cwl
