The government on Wednesday signed a $55 million financing agreement with the World Bank (WB) to expand renewable energy uses in rural areas.
The additional financing to the Second Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development (RERED II) Project will install 1,000 solar irrigation pumps, 30 solar mini-grids, and about 4 million improved cook stoves in rural areas.
Since 2003, the World Bank has been helping Bangladesh expand solar-powered electricity in remote and rural areas, said the global lending agency.
Bangladesh has one of the world's largest domestic solar power programs, covering 14 per cent of the population.
With an additional $20 million support from the Green Climate Fund, the project will scale up the use of improved cook stoves, which emit 90 per cent less carbon monoxide and use half as much firewood as a traditional cook stove.
The agreement was signed by Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Qimiao Fan on behalf of the government and the World Bank, respectively, at the Economic Relations Division.
The credits are from the International Development Association, the World Bank's concessional lending arm, which provides grants or zero-interest loans.
The credits have a 38-year term, including a six-year grace period, and a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
The World Bank has committed more than $28 billion in grants and interest-free credits to the country, said the global lending agency, reports UNB.
