The government has initiated a move to terminate the contracts for three solar power projects having the total capacity of 282 MW, as the sponsor companies have failed to mobilise required lands and funds, reports UNB.
The projects are 200 MW Teknaf Solar Park, 50 MW Sutiakhali Solar Park and 32 MW Sunamganj Solar Park, according to sources at the Power Division.
"We've already decided to terminate the contracts for these projects as their sponsors failed to mobilise required lands and funds as per the agreements signed with the government," Power Division joint secretary Mohammad Alauddin told the news agency.
He said the Power Division took the decision in this regard at a review meeting on April 30.
US company SunEdison has been the sponsor of the 200 MW Teknaf project while Chinese company Herat-Ditrolic IFDC Solar is the sponsor of the 50 MW Sutiakhali.
Edisun Power Point & Haor Bangla-Korea Green Energy Ltd. is the sponsor of 32 MW Sunamganj project.
Officials said these companies have signed separate deals with the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) at different times to implement the projects.
As per the contracts, the sources said, SunEdison was supposed to complete their 200 MW solar park project on July 7 in 2018, but the company could not even start the work on the solar park for lack of fund.
They said SunEdison was declared bankrupt by a court in the USA due to its debt burden, which put the company in great trouble.
Power Division officials said SunEdison recently sought time extension from the PDB, but it issued an 'Event of Default Notice' on October 15 last year instead of entertaining its appeal.
They said similar notice was also issued to Herat-Ditrolic IFDC Solar on May 17 this year following its failure to make the financial closing of the 50 MW Sutiakhali Solar Park Project.
Another 'Event of Default Notice' was issued to Edisun Power Point & Haor Bangla on September 21 last year, the sources said.
Mohammad Alauddin said the issuing of the 'Event of Default Notice' is the part of a process of terminating the contracts with the sponsor companies.
"We're moving step by step to finally scrap the deals with the three companies, as they failed to make any convincing progress about their respective projects," he added.
The government has taken a total of 19 solar power projects having a combined capacity of 1070 MW, which got the Prime Minister's approval, in principle, as part of the plan to generate 10 per cent electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Power purchase agreements (PPAs) were signed for only six projects, while nine projects await the PPA signing and four are under the process of project selection.
