Scaling up renewable energy in Bangladesh

Effective, sustainable and well aligned donor support together with private sector involvement is the key towards renewable energy development in Bangladesh. This was the conclusion of a half-day workshop organised by Power Division, Government of Bangladesh with support from SNV, in May 2012.

The workshop "Scaling up renewable Energy in Bangladesh: Role of Development partners" aimed to discuss the status of the renewable energy programme and identify ways to scaling it up further. It was chaired by Honorable Secretary of Power Division, Mr. Md. Abul Kalam Azad, while Mr. Syed Yusuf Hossain, Chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) was the Chief Guest.

According to Mr. Dipal Barua, President of the Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association, "The workshop is a timely move to bring in all the relevant stakeholders in one forum to discuss the issues regarding upscaling RE in Bangladesh."

Key highlights included presentations from Director and Head of Renewable Energy, Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) Mr. Enamul Kabir Pavel, SNV Portfolio Coordinator Mr. Robin Van Kippersluis and Deputy Director of Power Development Board Mr. Jahir Ahmed. Also, there were group working sessions on upscaling renewable energy at utility scale and household level, sector collaboration and coordination, and knowledge exchange and management.

Over 60 participants from the Renewable Energy sector including representatives from government agencies, development partners, private sector, non-government organisations, research organizations and renewable energy associations attended the workshop.