South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, need $625b to fulfill their targets of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

By 2030, South Asia aims to produce 552.7 GW of renewable energy, energy experts and activists told a discussion held in Baku on Tuesday.

The discussion titled ‘Pathways to tripling renewable energy in South Asia’ was organised in Baku of Azerbaijan jointly by Shakti Foundation, Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network and Friends of the Earth, said a press release.

Shifting to distributed renewable energy systems could reduce the cost requirement by up to 50 per cent while empowering communities and reducing the burden on national grids, the speakers said.

South Asia, home to 1.93 billion people, representing 27 per cent of the global population, has an average per capita electricity consumption of only 656 kWh, which is 74 per cent less than the developing Asia average and 80 per cent below the global average, the speakers said.

The adoption of RE can end this disparity, said the press release.

South Asia has a total installed power capacity of 524.3 GW, with India leading at 446.2 GW, followed by Pakistan with 41.9 GW, Bangladesh with 28.1 GW, Sri Lanka with 5 GW, and Nepal with 3.1 GW.

Renewable energy constitutes only 9.9 per cent of the region’s energy mix, with most electricity still generated from coal – 67 per cent — and fossil gas – 6 per cent.

The discussion was attended by environment, forest and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, CLEAN chief executive Hasan Mehedi, Imran Ahmed of Shakti Foundation, Vidya Dinker from GrowthWatch, India, Hemantha Withanage of Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific and M Zakir Hossain Khan from Change Initiative.

News Link: South Asia needs $625b to reach RE target by 2030