Reality of renewable energy in Bangladesh!!11 May 2025 14:57
This article put the reality of renewable energy in Bangladesh and its targets into perspective!!
Well worth a read!
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/watts-going-renewable-dream-stuck-load-shedding-3892176
Watt’s going on? A renewable dream stuck in load-shedding
Renewable energy in Bangladesh is a bit like your overly ambitious cousin who swears they'll start waking up at 6:00 am, run 10 kilometres, and read Tolstoy before breakfast—grand promises, minimal follow-through, and inevitably back to square one by the weekend. Every now and then, we're treated to a flashy announcement: a new solar megaproject here, a bold wind energy target there, all wrapped in glossy government statements and hashtags like #GreenBangladesh. We are now in 2025, and despite years of courtship with solar panels and flirtation with wind turbines, we're still stuck in a toxic relationship with fossil fuels—cuddling up to imported coal and whispering sweet nothings to liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Let's look at the reality behind the ribbon cuttings. Despite years of lofty commitments and climate conference pledges, renewable energy in Bangladesh accounts for only about 4.5 percent of total installed capacity, and more than 80 percent of that comes from solar. But even that number flatters to deceive. Most of it is from small, decentralised systems—rooftop solar, solar home systems in villages—not large-scale, grid-connected solar farms. The sun might shine relentlessly here, but our solar energy ambitions collapse faster than a flimsy Dhaka umbrella in July rain.
Why is the picture so bleak in a country that quite literally bakes under the sun and gets enough wind along the coast to power an Atif Aslam concert? Because our approach to renewable energy is equal parts chaotic and comical. Think of it as a gym subscription, enthusiastically bought, barely used, and always waiting for "the first of next month." One minute we're promising 6,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2025, and the next, we're cutting the power sector budget by 15 percent and quietly stalling the very policy reforms that would make those targets remotely achievable.
Let's dissect the big announcement. The long-awaited draft of the Renewable Energy Policy (REP) 2025 was finally published in February, heralding the same old excitement, now with bigger numbers. It promises that by 2030, Bangladesh will generate 20 percent of its electricity—6,145 megawatts—from renewables. By 2041, this will leap to 30 percent. It sounds impressive until you realise the whole projection is based on an inflated electricity demand estimate from the Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP). According to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a more realistic figure for 20 percent renewable electricity by 2030 would be around 5,600 megawatts, and just 10,500 megawatts for 30 percent by 2041. In other words, the government has taken some creative liberties with its
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