Chinese developer offers $50m for renewables if Bangladesh frees up land

Chinese developer Guopu Renewable Energy Technology has come up with an investment proposal to set up 50 MW of renewables generation capacity in Bangladesh.

Shanxi province-based Guopu has told the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority it will invest $50 million in ground-mounted solar and wind projects if the government frees up 200 acres of land and water.

Rongxia Cheng, CEO of the developer, highlighted scarcity of land as a hurdle to clean power in the nation as part of the company’s expression of interest in developing the generation capacity, which is under scrutiny by the development authority. “One of the main obstacles is to access suitable land at a reasonable price,” wrote Cheng.

The applicant performs consultation and planning, construction, and technology development for solar, wind and bio-based power plants and claims to have developed more than 2 GW of generation capacity; to own 430 MW of solar projects; and to have carried out engineering, procurement and construction contracts worth more than $350 million. “With every project, we reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, contributing to … environment[al] conservation and reducing dependency on fossil fuels; striving for a greener future,” added the CEO.

The more ambitious nationally determined contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement submitted by Bangladesh at this month’s COP26 summit in Glasgow commits the nation to developing 4.1 GW of renewables capacity this decade and to source 40% of its power from renewables by mid century.

Having cancelled plans for ten new coal-fired power plants this year, Dhaka is hoping to attract foreign investment to fund its energy transition.

With scores of large scale solar plants under construction, the nation currently has 776.41 MW of renewables generation capacity, 425.88 MW of which is grid connected.