Further work is needed for green-energy transition with innovation through building a renewable energy-based power system for maximum coverage of energy demand.
According to stakeholders, innovation with policy and financial support can remove challenges in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption through renewable energy generation and green investment.
They said this at an international event styled 'Investing in green energy transition: Partnership opportunities for Bangladesh and Europe' hosted by the Team Europe Initiative Green Energy Transition (TEI GET) of the European Union (EU).
PM's energy, power and mineral resources adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury attended the inaugural session of the event as the chief guest and state minister for power Nasrul Hamid as the special guest.
EU Ambassador in Bangladesh Charles Whiteley and German Ambassador AchimTröste spoke at the event as co-chair of the TEI GET, also known as Team Europe.
Participants from the embassies of other member states of Team Europe, including Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, and like-minded partner countries like Norway and Switzerland, joined the event.
Representatives from European financing institutions like the AgenceFrançaise de Développement (AFD), Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Kreditanstaltfür Wiederaufbau (KFW), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and many other development partners were also there.
Dr Tawfiq said despite the country's achievement in energy and power sector including solar system development, it has many challenges to meet its target in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
'Bangladesh is largest solar systems in the world. But we need to be creative to address many challenges in making our system cleaner," he told the function stressing the need for getting the climate fund for the overcoming the challenges.
The state minister highlighted the government's various policy and planning level measures to meet the 2030 target of having 40 per cent of energy from renewable sources.
He said the country's solar capacity, which is now 200 megawatt (MW), has been planned to increase to at least 1,300 MW by connecting to the grid in next few years.
"Bangladesh is looking to a wide range of well-targeted investment options to meet sustainable long-term goals with climate-smart technologies and circular economies involving public and private counterparts."
Highlighting the importance of the Team Europe support to green-energy transition as part of the EU Global Gateway strategy, Mr Whiteley stressed making the current situation, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an opportunity for a long-term shift towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy and power system.
The German envoy said collaboration between Team Europe and Bangladesh can play a pivotal role in a successful green energy transition here.
Another session on innovation, technologies and success stories shared experiences in various investment and initiatives.
Speakers at the session laid emphasis on seamless innovation in renewable energy technologies and better management system for a smart clean and green energy.
Experts at a discussion session of the event stressed the need for more policy support to promote use of renewable energy in the country.
They pointed out that financing and land scarcity are among the major challenges in the way of enhancing the renewable energy base in the country.
"All the stakeholders have to believe in the necessity of green energy. They all have to believe in it and they have to do it together," said Abdullah Hil Rakib, director of BGMEA and managing director of Team Group, taking part in the discussion on "Economic and Political Framework for Successful Green Investment".
Faisal Rabbi of H&M said: "When we can secure the investment, there will be more renewable energy generation. And when there is more renewable energy generation that will contribute to the share of the renewable energy industry and everything."
Terming green energy as the ultimate solution to secure sustainable growth, he said the country should not look at fossil fuel in any way as the short-and long-term solutions to the current problem. "Renewable energy is the obvious option that we need to look at."
Joint Director of the Sustainable Finance Department of the Bangladesh Bank Ahmed Zubaer said the central bank has set up a credit guarantee department to provide guarantee to the SMEs sector.
He also emphasised on the importance of regional cooperation because when it rains in Napal or in India, it causes floods in Bangladesh. "So regional cooperation is also very important in case of identifying climate risks in our business," he noted.
Navid Huq, vice president of the Independent Power Producers Association of Bangladesh, said that the policy needs to be changed so that the IPPs can help finance for the partners.
A more dynamic policy is needed so that more flexible schemes are available, he said, adding that it will help the entrepreneurs enter into the renewable energy industry through different means. "We are all for it from the industry investment perspective,"
Alamgir Morshed of IDCOL said that structuring the financing for the renewable energy sector is difficult as it is a long-term investment.
"I think that is something which the policymakers can take into account and is definitely something which we need to look at," he added.
