A number of large business groups have come across a new-found opportunity in rooftop solar power projects amid the rising prices of fossil fuel and power tariff.
They are increasingly investing in such roof-top projects for running their industrial units.
The state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) has so far approved about 25 solar rooftop projects involving Tk 1.62 billion (162 crore) undertaken by the large business groups.
The 25 projects together will help generate 29.62 megawatts (MW) of power. Of the projects, four have already gone into operation.
Considering the scarcity of land, the business groups undertook the rooftop projects, said Enamul Karim Pavel, Head of Renewable Energy at IDCOL.
After meeting their own requirement, the businesses look to sell the surplus power to the national grid, added the official of the state-owned non-bank financial institution.
The cost of electricity generation from a rooftop solar project is Tk 7-8 per kWh (kilowatt hour). This is lower than the cost of electricity bought from the utility service providers.
Of the major business groups, Far East Spinning Industries Limited has already installed a 1.1 MW rooftop power plant, followed by Paragon Poultry Limited with 723 kWp, Debonair Group 350 kw and Bengal Group 950 kw.
Other groups are Square Textile (3.7 MW), Bashundhara Packaging Ltd (2.5 MW) and Pran Group (20 MW).
Md Kamrul Islam, director (SCM and MIS) at Debonair Group, said they already completed the pilot operation under their mega rooftop project undertaken for generating about 224 kw.
"The second phase is expected to start next month. We have set a target to generate 1,853 kw in the next two or three phases for consumption," he said.
A total of 2.0 MW would be generated under the mega rooftop project of the group, he said.
The electricity generation through solar PV costs 5.0 per cent less than the power tariff set by the Rural Electrification Board (REB), he said.
Of the business entities, the Bengal Group has already signed an agreement with the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) to sell the surplus power to the national grid under the net metering guidelines of the government.
On July 20, 2018 the government framed the net metering guidelines to encourage use of power from rooftop solar projects.
It has installed rooftop solar plants at 42 locations and all are in operation.
Bengal Group of Industries Vice Chairman Jashim Uddin said they started their solar rooftop project last year in line with the government's vision to meet 10 per cent of the demand for electricity with renewable energy.
He said the installation cost of solar rooftop panels is quite high against the supply of power from there to the national grid at a lower cost.
He said the government should incentivise the use of solar rooftop panels to encourage more industries to invest in this segment.
Rumman Iqbal Rony, project engineer of Paragon Group, said the group already completed a solar rooftop project having a capacity of 723 kw in Gazipur.
Three other projects undertaken for producing 195 kw, 164 kw and 125 kw of power are at three different locations of the country.
He said solar power costs Tk 6 per unit that is much cheaper than the cost of power generation with fossil fuel.
Rafiqul Islam of Far East Spinning Industries Limited said they were using 1.1 MW of solar power by installing a rooftop plant at Madhabpur in Habiganj at a cost of Tk 85 million.
"We can save on an average Tk 0.6 to Tk 0.7 million every month using solar power," he said.
The company has placed proposals before the IDCOL to approve more such rooftop projects, he added. Mr Pavel of IDCOL said solar power is cheaper than that generated with fossil fuel.
"Currently the costs of solar rooftop panels have gone down significantly. Each unit of solar power may cost Tk 1.0 now," he said.
The prices of solar panels have declined by 70 per cent since 2006 but the electricity tariff has increased by 8.0 per cent per year, on an average, since 1999.
There is a fund worth US$ 1021 million of the World Bank (WB) and Euro 60 million from KfW development banks under a five-year project to support solar rooftop setups in the country. The project was launched in 2019, Mr Pavel said.
Currently about 2.91 per cent of power is being generated from renewable energy sources, according to the Sustainable & Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA).
IDCOL has set a target to finance rooftop solar projects for generating 300 MW by 2022. Currently it has 50 MW projects in the pipeline.
On an average the project cost of a 1.0 MWp rooftop solar power project is Tk 65 million. IDCOL finances the projects at the debt-equity ratio of 80:20. The tenure of IDCOL financing is 10 years.
The requirement of funds in the form of loans until 2025 for installation of 1,000 MW rooftop solar power plants is USD 1.0 billion.
Through use of solar power it is possible to save 131,000 tonnes of diesel per year and reduce the green house gas (GHG) emissions by 288,000 tonnes per year.
With the rise in fossil fuel-based electricity costs and reduction in solar panel prices, the world, including neighbouring countries, is largely shifting toward rooftop solar power.
