The government offering entrepreneurs land and interconnection to the national grid for a rapid expansion of solar energy is welcome. The Power Development Board is also scheduled to, as the energy adviser announced on December 7, begin open calls for 40 renewable energy projects, mostly for solar power. The Awami League government awarded the projects without bidding and the interim government has cancelled the earlier awards to go for an open invitation. The initiative, if properly implemented and followed by more such offers and facilitation, can help to produce a significant portion of the energy from renewable sources. An overwhelming dependence on imported fossil fuels for power generation and the absence of initiatives to promote cost-competitive renewable energy have, as experts say, held back the transition to renewable energy. Successive governments, especially the deposed Awami League government, came up with a number of road maps and promises to project the transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy in 5–15 years. But when it came to investment and work, there was a pronounced disinclination. This is what was problematic and worrying. All talks about a transition to renewable energy appear to have been nothing but rhetoric.

A report by the United States-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says that Bangladesh did not receive any significant renewable energy investment in 2023. As a signatory to the Paris agreement, Bangladesh is meant to generate 100 per cent electricity from renewable sources by 2050 as it has pledged in the Climate Vulnerable Forum. The government spoke of generating 5 per cent of power from renewables by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020. But it could not meet the target. Studies show that the investment gap to achieve even the minimum target of power from renewables is huge. The share in the generation of solar and wind power, in fact, declined to 0.77 per cent in 2022 from 0.93 per cent in 2015, as the Berlin-based think tank Agora Energiewende says. The lack of promotion and the placement of barriers to rooftop solar systems have also held back the potential of solar power. An earlier Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report, published in December 2023, says that Bangladesh lags way behind its neighbours in promoting rooftop solar power and 5,000MW can be produced using only the roofs of industries.

In such a situation, the government offering land and connection to the national grid is a step forward. With more such steps, the authorities can unlock the potential of power production from renewable sources. For that, the authorities need to invest adequately and facilitate private investments. The authorities should also promote rooftop solar power. It is high time the authorities reviewed its renewable energy policy and recommitted to renewable sources.

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