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Beximco wants to “bring Bangladesh to the world.” But it’s currently bringing the world to Bangladesh.
The largest private-sector group in Bangladesh constructed the country’s largest solar power plant at 200 megawatts (MW) at Sundarganj in the Gaibandha district on a 650-acre plot of infertile land through its Teesta Solar Limited subsidiary, reports sourcingjournal.com.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the opening during a gathering at the Rangpur Zila School ground earlier this month. Energy security is a priority for the country, which is experiencing the worst energy crisis in a decade.
“We think the renewable energy sector will be very important for future energy, so we have taken decision to invest here,” Shayan F. Rahman, chairman of Beximco Power Limited, told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news. “We launched the first green Sukok bond, sharia-compliant bonds, in the country to finance this project. We have spent about $300 million in this project. In the future, we are thinking of setting up more solar power plants as per government plans.”
The plant comprises 550,000 panels sourced from Shanghai. It is 65.7 MWs larger than Energon Renewable’s solar plant. The Teesta project, which has been in the works since 2017 and began operating on a trial basis last December, comes at a critical time for the country’s northern region, considering its reliance on imported fuels and fast-declining foreign exchange reserves amid the energy crisis.