Bangladesh鈥檚 new rooftop solar programme to increase the generation to about 3,000 megawatts from current 245MW is challenging for factors like limited capacity and maintenance issues, said the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a US-based organisation, on Monday.
In July, the Power Division in a circular announced that solar panels would be installed in all government offices, schools, colleges, madrassahs and hospitals across the country, under the government鈥檚 National Rooftop Solar Programme.
Aiming at adding about 3,000MW of power to the national grid by this December, the programme will be implemented under two investment models 鈥� the capital expenditure model for government offices and the operating expenditure model for educational and healthcare institutions.
Under the OpEx model, schools, colleges, madrassahs and hospitals will not have to bear any costs.
The United States-based organisation promoting clean energy in a press release observed that the combined power demand in government offices, hospitals, educational and religious institutions was less than 1,500MW.
鈥楾his limits the possibility of achieving rooftop solar capacity of 3,000MW under net metering guidelines,鈥� said Shafiqul Alam, IEEFA鈥檚 lead energy analyst for Bangladesh.
Furthermore, fund allocation for various projects, tendering, evaluation of bidding documents, issuing work orders and project implementation will likely to require an extension of the December 2025 deadline, he added.
Highlighting reluctance of companies to invest under the OpEx model, the US organisation suggested that the government should follow neighbouring countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
India produces 24 per cent of its total electricity demand from solar energy, Pakistan 17.16 per cent and Sri Lanka 39.7 per cent, while Bangladesh produces only 5.6 per cent of its total electricity demand from solar power.
As Bangladesh鈥檚 rooftop solar sector is still at a nascent stage, capacity development of key stakeholders and government agencies will be important for the programme鈥檚 success, the IEEFA said.
It also said that the government should establish an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure that projects operate smoothly.
