Amid the ongoing energy crisis in Bangladesh, the government’s announcement of an ambitious programme to install 3,000 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar capacity by December 2025 has been welcomed as a timely move to boost renewable energy.

However, a new briefing note by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) raises concerns about the feasibility of achieving the target within the given timeframe.

Moves taken over the past year since the incumbent government assumed power to launch new fossil fuel projects or revive scrapped ones threaten to worsen Bangladesh’s economic woes, said energy experts.

Two of the moves involved liquefied natural gas import, though energy experts warned about it increasing expenses in the energy sector, which is highly subsidised.

The government is moving to phase out subsidies on imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the next fiscal year, after spending more than Tk 36,712 crore over the past seven years to keep gas prices stable.

Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) Secretary Mohammed Saiful Islam said efforts to cut LNG import costs are already paying off. “We have signed a deal with OQ Trading International of Oman that reduced the LNG spot market premium from 63 cents to 15 cents. We hope to bring it down further, close to 10 cents,” he told Just Energy News.

Bangladesh’s power sector stranded assets are increasing by leaps and bounds, exposing a new Achilles heel of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), which bled fiscally dry after pursuing a flawed energy policy during the 15-year rule of the past Awami League government.

With large power plants awaiting commissioning for months or sitting substantially idle after launch, the stranded asset problem is more pronounced than ever before.

Bangladesh’s transitional government set new ambitions for renewable energy growth, but sees little action on the ground.

In the wake of student uprisings that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh government last July, an interim government vowed to bring reform to the country’s energy sector that is responsible for three-quarters of its planet-heating emissions.

Solar energy sees financing crunch

As of July, 2025, Bangladesh's installed solar energy capacity reached 1,307.15 megawatts (MW), up from 949.65 MW in June 2023-a 38 per cent increase in just over two years. While this surge underlines the growing momentum in the country's transition to clean energy, significant financial, technical, and policy challenges threaten to slow the pace of expansion.

Seventeen years after its first renewable energy framework done, Bangladesh has launched the Renewable Energy Policy 2025, aiming to generate 20 per cent of total electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 30 per cent by 2040.

The policy marks a strategic pivot toward sustainable energy, aligned with national plans such as the Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP), Delta Plan 2100, and international climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The government of China has formally embarked on constructing what is projected to become the world's largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River, known downstream as the Brahmaputra in India and Bangladesh. This mega-dam will comprise a cascade of five hydropower stations situated in Nyingchi, southeastern Tibet, and will be capable of generating 60,000 MW of electricity—roughly three times the annual electricity generation of Bangladesh.

For Bangladesh, far downstream yet acutely affected, the Medog Hydropower Station highlights its struggles to ensure equitable water-sharing.

When Chinese Premier Li Qiang broke ground on the world’s most ambitious dam – the Medog Hydropower Station on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet – global headlines fixated on its scale and scope. With a projected cost of $167 billion and an expected capacity triple that of the Three Gorges Dam, the project is a technological marvel.

The government has extended a sovereign and indemnity guarantee to the World Bank (WB) to support Petrobangla's costly liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, ensuring payment if the state-run company fails to repay its loans on time.

A senior official from the Finance Division under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) told The Financial Express on Saturday that the MoF provided the counter-guarantee or indemnity to the multilateral donor agency to reimburse funds, if needed. The World Bank's repayment guarantee is thus backed firmly by the Ministry of Finance's sovereign guarantee.

Natural gas has been the lifeblood of Bangladesh's energy security since the '60s of the last century when a global energy giant, Shell Oil, first hit upon five major gas fields in this part of the world. Since then, the country has been considered a gas-rich nation. Later, in 1997, Chevron discovered the Bibiyana gas field in Habiganj. According to Petrobangla, the state-owned oil, gas and mineral exploration and distribution company, Bangladesh has 22 onshore gas blocks, of which 11 have never been explored. In addition, it has also 26 offshore gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal, divided into 11 shallow-sea blocks and 15 deep-sea blocks, which may be contracted out to international gas and oil exploration companies.

Cheap Chinese panels are powering desalination plants for areas that have long struggled with water shortages

Solar-powered desalination plants are offering a lifeline to communities in the most climate-ravaged part of Bangladesh’s coast, where rising sea levels, floods and tidal surges are pushing salt water inland.

The sharp decline in LNG imports – down by nearly 1.86 lakh tonnes – was driven by weather-related disruptions and payment complications, prompting an increased reliance on LPG for both household and industrial consumption

Bangladesh has seen a significant shift in its energy import pattern in FY25, with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) imports rising by 10.52%, while Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports dropped by 27.23% compared to the previous year.

BPDB has been buying electricity from state-run or JV plants without formal tariff approval

The interim government has initiated steps to amend power-purchase agreements (PPAs) and lower tariff rates for nine power plants that have been selling electricity to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) without securing official approval for their tariffs, according to sources.

BRAC Bank has emerged as one of the first institutions in Bangladesh to publicly disclose 100% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, covering the full spectrum from internal operations to emissions generated through its financing activities, says a press statement.

With the release of its Sustainability and Impact Report 2024, BRAC Bank completed a full-scale carbon accounting exercise, reporting a total of 1,477,468 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) across direct (Scope 1), energy-related (Scope 2), and value chain (Scope 3) emissions, marking a significant step toward environmental transparency in the financial sector.