The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is seeking international partners to build three photovoltaic power plants with a combined capacity of 77.6 MW in different parts of the country.
BPDB announced a plan to build three solar power plants in different parts of the country, with the aim of developing a 50 MW project in Rangunia, a 20 MW photovoltaic array on a pond in the Dinajpur coal mining district, and a project in southeast Bangladesh. to develop a 7.6 MW photovoltaic installation in the Rangamati area of the Ministry of Finance.
On February 16, the state agency published an advertisement announcing that it was looking for an international partner for the construction of the power plant, which would be financed by "cash foreign exchange under the BPDB Power Industry Development Fund". The agency hopes to formally bring the plant online and commissioning within 12 months of signing the contract. The government will provide land for the construction of the power plant.
According to BPDB officials, the 20 MW solar power plant will be built on a pond in a polluted area that was formed after years of coal mining. According to a recently conducted feasibility study, the pond has the capacity to accommodate a floating solar power plant with a generating capacity of 40 MW to 50 MW.
The 7.6 MW solar power plant will be built on a piece of land adjacent to the 230 MW Karnafuli hydropower station, about 50 kilometers from the port city of Chattogram. The BPDB said it wanted to build the new power plant next to another 7.4 MW photovoltaic array that was brought online in 2019.
Bangladesh currently has 958 MW of renewable energy generation capacity, of which 724 MW comes from solar power.