The state minister for power yesterday stressed the need for expansion of renewable energy system to cut the country's existing power shortage, saying the conventional source is not enough to meet the increasing demand for electricity.
M Anwarul Kabir Talukder however said, "We have taken an action plan to ensure uninterrupted power supply by maintaining the conventional system." He also said industrial production, farming, service sector and food generation depend on uninterrupted power supply.
The minister made the comments while addressing a function marking the inauguration of the 75,000 solar home systems of Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) in Dhaka.
M Fouzul Kabir Khan, executive director and CEO of IDCOL, chaired the function while Ismail Zabihullah, secretary of Economic Relations Division and chairman of IDCOL, Hue Du, country director of Asian Development Bank, and Dipal C Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, were present.
The minister acknowledged the importance of solar energy to meet the growing demand for power in the country, particularly in remote areas, and pledged an enhanced financial assistance for development of solar home system.
Although the demand for electricity increases over 10 percent every year, power generation does not go up the same way, he said.
"So, we have to find out the alternative sources of power as the existing power system of the country is highly expensive," he maintained.
IDCOL CEO said many countries around the world are taking initiative to generate renewable energy as an alternative source of conventional power system. Keeping this in mind, the IDCOL also has completed the feasibility study for setting up a biomass plant of 250 kilowatt. The company already conducted the feasibility study of the project, he added.
