Bangladesh Seeks To Get Renewables Back On Track with 2.6 GW Tender

Bangladesh, where much else besides its renewables plans were disrupted as a result of the student backed movement that overthrew the then government of Sheikh Hasina last year, has a lot of catching up to do. Not only has the country been embroiled in disputes with power providers in India like the Adani group which supplies thermal power to it, there have also been credible reports of delays in payments to Indian renewable energy developers and EPC firms that set up a few solar projects in the country.

In a sign of further return to normalcy hopefully, the Bangladesh Power Development Board has launched a tender for new solar projects, seeking bidders for 2,605 MW of solar projects on offer across the country. the board has set a last date of May 28, for the tenders which come with a 20 year PPA on offer for power purchase.

The latest BPDB tender covers 14 projects ranging between 105MW and 250MW in size.  An added attraction is that all the projects are or will be located near grid substations, with seven currently in operation, with the remaining under construction. The  substations are in Mymensingh, Chattogram, Gopalganj, Netrokona, Jashore, Dinajpur, Noakhali, Narayanganj, Kushtia, Pabna, Tangail and Moulvibazar.

For Bangladesh, renewables, it is hoped will serve the twin purpose of greening the grid, overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels for now, besides  reducing dependency on power imports, mostly from India. The big challenge of course is the financial credibility of the country, after the extended issues with the Adani Group and other suppliers, especially from India. With the obvious advantages India-based firms had, getting better bids as the board has hoped may not be as easy from non-Indian firms. Worse, change in tender conditions from dollar linked payments to local currency might also not sit well with many players, despite the fact that a dollar linked  PPA was always a bad idea for Bangladesh.