Power Division takes new plan to expand current project
In an effort to sharply reduce the use of conventional power, Power Division has initiated a move to install 5,00,000 solar-powered pumps across the country by 2020 for irrigation. The Power Division is currently moving ahead with a programme to replace about 1,50,000 diesel- and conventional electricity-run irrigation pumps with solar-powered ones by 2017. But, the new initiative has been taken recently to increase the number of solar-powered pumps under a power system master plan. ‘Our latest plan is to install 5,00,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps by 2020,’ said Siddique Zobair, joint secretary of the Power Division and a member of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority.
The capacity of each of the solar-powered irrigation pumps will be about 8 kilowatt peak and those would able to run for 5-8 hours a day to pump about 5,00,000 litres of water.
The Power Division has been created SREDA as a new entity to promote renewable energy, particularly the solar power across the country as green and sustainable energy.
Of the 5,00,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps, some will be installed replacing the existing diesel-run ones and conventional electricity pumps while some will be installed as new ones in new areas, Power Division officials said.
The country has about 1.566 million irrigation pumps of which 2,66,000 are grid-connected electric ones consuming about 1300 MW electricity to irrigate 1.7 million hectares of land.
Besides, there are 1.3 million diesel-run irrigation pumps which consume about 900,000 tons of diesel to irrigate 3.4 million hectares of land.
‘Now SREDA has taken the move to install the 5,00,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps and already started working on the project to install them in both private and public sectors,’ said Siddiqie Zobair.
He said the installation works have already begun and so far 193 have
been set up at different parts of the country.
Zobair said the state-owned special entity Infrastructure Development Company Limited and Bangladesh Bank are financing the project from climate change and green funds. Different international donor agencies’ grants are now being used by the two organisations to promote the solar-powered irrigation pump project.
About $60 million is being spent on the current programme of installing 1,50,000 solar-run pumps, of which about $24.5 million will be coming from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilient Fund. Besides, the World Bank is providing $10 million as grants for the project.
Officials said the World Bank Board had already pledged to provide $155 million IDA support for the project under the Second Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project on September 20, 2012.
Zobair said the government was evolving a mechanism to involve the private sector in the project so that it could easily be implemented with accelerated pace.
Under the idea, grant and credit support will be channelled through the IDCOL and the irrigation pumps will be installed and operated by non-government organisations and private investors.
IDCOL will provide both grant and credit support for the programme while Bangladesh Bank will provide loan at lower interest rate of 7-9 per cent.
About the installation of solar-powered irrigation pumps, energy exert M Tamim said this was a good idea, but its cost was so far very high which must be brought down within the affordability of the common people.
He said globally there were moves in different countries to install solar-powered irrigation pumps. ‘So, we should move with such projects,’ he added
-With New Age input
