Plans to meet Bangladesh’s growing energy demand with imported coal have sparked violence and undermined its burgeoning solar industry

While much of the world is turning its back on coal, Bangladesh is poised to embrace it. Three major new coal-fired power programmes are planned, sparking angry protests by locals threatened with eviction, and calling into question the country’s commitment to global climate goals.

Ironically, they are being developed as joint ventures with Indian and Chinese companies at a time when both those countries are starting to shift away from coal for domestic purposes. China in particular is placing curbs on new coal plants in pursuit of a target to “peak” its carbon emissions by 2030.

The most recent, and violent, protests have been at Gandamara, close to the port city of Chittagong, where a 1,324MW plant is set for development by a joint venture between local company S Alam and Chinese firms HTG and Sepco3. Designed to deal with Chittagong’s frequent power cuts, the plant has drawn a furious reaction from locals, who claim they face eviction from their homes and farms, with schools and temples threatened with demolition. Protests turned violent in April: hundreds were arrested and at least four people were killed when police opened fire. One protestor said: “They fired at us like they were trying to kill birds.”

Environmental concerns

Another installation, also with a 1,320MW capacity, is planned for Rampal, close to the Sundarbans, one of the world’s largest mangrove forests, a vital refuge for the Bengal tiger and a Unesco World Heritage Site. The plant’s developer is the newly formed Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL), a joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the Indian government-owned NTPC Ltd. The plant is due for completion in 2019.

Local and international environmentalists have raised concerns, which have already led to the withdrawal of planned Norwegian government investment. A Unesco team is carrying out an environmental assessment that is widely expected to be a good deal more critical than the local EIA reports delivered by government-backed consultants. These have largely given the plan a clean bill of health, praising “the dynamic leadership” and “continuous inspiration” of the respective chairmen of BIFPCL and BPDB.

Only 40% of Bangladeshis have access to electricity
 

Meanwhile, a third installation, comprising two 660MW plants, is proposed for Dhankhali in Barisal division, near a planned major new seaport at Payra on the Bay of Bengal. As with Rampal, its developer, the Bangladesh-China Power Company, is a bespoke joint venture between the BPDB and China’s National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (part of a state-owned conglomerate).

There’s no doubting Bangladesh’s need for power. Only around 40% of the population has access to electricity, and power cuts for those who do are frequent. The government has set the ambitious target of 100% electrification by 2021.

At present, only 2.5% comes from coal. The country has little in the way of coal reserves itself, and an earlier attempt to develop a large open cast mine at Phulbari in the north-west foundered in the face of protests. Most of the coal for the new plants will have to be imported – much of it expected to be from Indonesia, where the industry is beset with controversy. The lion’s share is from gas, diesel and – increasingly – solar. In the past couple of decades, Bangladesh has been something of a poster boy for solar success in the developing world.

Only 40% of Bangladeshis have access to electricity
 

Solar on tap

When it comes to providing domestic power in rural areas, solar is hard to beat. Rooftop panels and solar irrigation pumps generate electricity where it’s needed, with neither pollution nor transmission losses to worry about. Small scale solar systems of the likes pioneered by Grameen Shakti (an offshoot of the Grameen Bank) and Bright Green Energy are already powering 4m homes, with 2m more expected to be installed in the next four years. Wind power, too, is starting to take off.

So could renewables take up more of the load? The government has targeted 3.1GW of installed capacity by 2021, and recently announced a 200MW solar plant in partnership with Sun Edison.

Dipal Barua, former managing director of Grameen Shakti and now president of the Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association, thinks it could go further. “We have plenty of sunshine, plenty of wind. And the fuel sources are free, and will remain so. Fossil fuels may be cheap at present but the price will go up – and we will be dependent on imported supplies, with all the insecurity which that brings. Meanwhile, solar is already outcompeting kerosene.” He suggests that a 2021 target of at least 5GW – equivalent to around 20% of the country’s electricity needs – would be achievable. “If the government is sincere, it can do it,” he says.

And that, of course, could just be the start. The world’s leading utility-scale solar developer, SkyPower, has announced plans for 2GW worth of solar installations in Bangladesh - over one-and-a-half-times the capacity of each of the coal plants. With a shift in policy, Bangladesh might win both wider international backing for its electrification and the prospect of greater energy security for the indefinite future.

 
climate  solar  green energy  renewables  government 

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