Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday inaugurated Bangladesh’s largest solar power plant, set up in Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha, at a grand rally in Rangpur.

The plant, with a capacity of 200MW, is a milestone in the renewable energy sector. It has over 520,000 solar panels covering around 600 acres in the Teesta char areas of Khodda and Lathshala at Tarapur Union.

To protect the power plant from natural disasters like floods and river erosion, a seven-kilometre embankment has been constructed. Local residents are getting the benefits of the road and the area has become a tourist attraction.

Beximco-owned Teesta Solar Limited started building this plant in 2018. On November 30 last year, the plant started supplying 90-140MW of electricity on a trial basis to the Rangpur grid substation through a newly built 34km transmission line.

According to the power purchase agreement signed on October 26, 2017, the government will buy electricity at a rate of Tk13.9 per unit for 20 years.

Shayan F Rahman, chairman of Beximco Power Limited, said the project was implemented at a cost of $300 million (around Tk3,300 crore) in line with the prime minister’s roadmap for global warming and environmental protection.

“We believe that this renewable energy sector will be very important for the future of energy.

“In future, we are thinking of setting up more solar power plants as per government plans,” he added.

Previously, the largest solar plant was the 100MW unit in Mongla. On the other hand, the 3.28MW plant at Sarishabari in Jamalpur is the country's first grid-tied solar power facility that came into commercial operation in 2017.

According to State Minister for Energy and Power Nasrul Hamid, Bangladesh generates 1,194MW of electricity from renewable sources, but 825.23MW is coming to the national grid. Another 1,262MW power plants are under construction through 30 projects from renewable energy while 8,668MW worth of projects are under process.

Bangladesh is implementing and considering over a dozen massive solar power plants, including three with a capacity of 1,000MW each, to join the gigawatt club of China, India and the UAE.

One of the three is being set up at Swarna Dwip (formerly Jahazzair Char) in Noakhali. The Bangladesh Army Welfare Trust is building the plant.

The other major projects currently being reviewed by the government or are being implemented are located at Sreemangal of Moulvibazar (300MW), and Mongla in Bagerhat and Thakurgaon (200MW each).