The largest solar power plant in Bangladesh with a power generation capacity of 28 MW has started its operation in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar. With this, the country’s power generation capacity from renewable energy sources has become over five percent of the total demand.
The power plant has been set up by Technaf Solartech Energy Ltd (TSEL) in Teknaf in an area of 116 acres. Currently, the power plant is feeding 20 MW to the national grid.
Managing Director of TSEL Nuher Latif Khan informed that the power plant is capable of meeting 80 per cent of power demand of Teknaf upazila.
This power plant is situated at Aukhali area in Hinla union of Teknaf upazila. It’s located at the east side of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf highway. A total of 87,000 solar panels were used to construct the plant and the plant has 5 sub-stations, surrounded by panels. The power generated by the panels is primarily stored at the facility and is later transmitted to the substation of Palli Bidyut located at Leda area of Hinla union.
Prior to this power plant, the highest capacity of a solar power plant was only 3 MW. Currently, Bangladesh generates around 530 MW of power from renewable sources and almost half of the power comes from hydro-power. The power generation capacity from renewable sources is likely to raise up to 600 MW within next year.
According to the master plan, the target is to generate 2,235 MW of power from renewable sources by 2021.
President of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association Dipal Chandra Barua said that 5.2 millions of houses use solar power in this country, which accounts roughly 12 per cent of the consumers who have access to electricity.
According to the Renewable Energy Policy of 2008, the country aimed to generate 10 percent of its power from renewable sources by the year of 2020.
