DHAKA: A 1,000-megawatt photovoltaic power facility planned in partnership with a Saudi power giant was expected to help Bangladesh resolve its energy crisis, authorities in Dhaka said on Wednesday.
Bangladesh, which is dependent on imported liquefied natural gas, has been struggling with an energy crisis for the past couple of months.
On Monday, the Bangladesh Power Development Board, an agency under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power to set up a 1,000-megawatt solar power facility in the South Asian country.
“It’s a first track initiative to resolve the ongoing energy crisis to some extent,” Mohammad Hossain, director general of the BPDB, told Arab News.
He estimated that the project would comprise up to five power plants, cost around $3 billion, and would not take long to complete.
“It doesn’t take much time to implement solar power plant projects ... If everything goes well, we can expect within the next two years that these solar plants will be able to go for production.”
Authorities are now looking for appropriate land where the solar farm could be established.
“It can be on public land or ACWA Power can also propose some private land,” Hossain said. “Based on that we will conduct a feasibility study of the project.”
The facility would also help Bangladesh achieve its target of generating 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2041. With a total installed electricity generation capacity of 25,700 megawatts, the country’s current power generation mix comprises only 3 percent renewables.
“This kind of 1,000-megawatt project will help us to meet the target,” Dr. SM Nasif Shams, director of the Institute of Energy at the University of Dhaka, told Arab News.
“If we can secure this Saudi investment in the renewable energy sector, it will be a very positive thing for Bangladesh.”
The project would not only contribute to Bangladesh’s clean energy goals but also to its energy resilience.
Since mid-July, the government has been resorting to daily power cuts amid high global prices driven up by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Industries have been forced to remain idle for several hours a day as they do not receive sufficient power to run their operations.
In early October, some 80 percent of Bangladesh’s 168 million people were left without electricity after a grid failure, which occurred when more than one-third of the country’s gas-powered units were short of fuel.
“Considering the present situation, it’s difficult to import fossil fuel from foreign countries,” Shams said.
“If we can generate our own energy using renewable sources like sunlight or wind, this is always positive as we don’t have to import fossil fuel. And it’s also environment friendly.”
Saudi solar project to help Bangladesh meet clean energy goals, mitigate power crisis
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Saudi solar project to help Bangladesh meet clean energy goals, mitigate power crisis
- ACWA Power signed power plant agreement with Bangladesh earlier this week
- Bangladesh has for months been struggling with acute energy crisis
India condemns Canada for linking home minister to plots against Sikh separatists
- A row broke out between the two states after a Sikh separatist’s murder on Canadian soil last year
- India denies any role in the incident, though both countries have expelled each other’s diplomats
NEW DELHI: India’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had lodged a protest with Canada for linking its home minister to alleged plots against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.
The ministry also accused Ottawa of surveillance of some Indian consular staff.
Canada’s global affairs department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, made outside usual work hours.
The Washington Post newspaper first reported in October that Canadian officials alleged Amit Shah, considered the number two in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that he had told The Washington Post that Shah was behind the plots.
“It was conveyed in a note that the government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.
Jaiswal said what he called Canada’s “unfounded insinuations” would have serious consequences for bilateral ties between the two nations.
Jaiswal also said Canada has informed India’s consular officials that they have been under audio and video surveillance, and that India viewed this as “harassment and intimidation.” He did not say when Canada informed Indian officials about this.
India has previously denied any role in the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the alleged targeting of other dissidents there. The dispute has led to expulsions of diplomats in both countries.
Indian troops kill three suspected rebels in disputed Kashmir
- Two separate gunbattles took place in Anantnag and Srinagar districts
- Police say two soldiers and two policemen were injured in the fighting
SRINAGAR: Three suspected militants were killed Saturday in separate gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said Saturday.
India’s military in a statement said soldiers intercepted a group of militants in a forested area in southern Anantnag district on Saturday, leading to a gunbattle that killed two rebels.
In a separate incident in the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar, police and paramilitary soldiers killed a militant in an exchange of gunfire after troops cordoned off a neighborhood on a tip that he was hiding in a house. Police said two soldiers and two police were injured in the fighting.
Residents said the troops torched the home where the rebel was trapped, a common tactic employed by Indian troops in the Himalayan region. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Militants in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is “Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.” Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Bangladesh introduces 10-year tax exemption for renewable energy projects
- Policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in first 5 years
- Bangladesh’s renewable energy output is among the lowest in the world
DHAKA: Bangladesh is introducing a 10-year tax exemption package for renewable energy production — a move expected to help boost clean electricity generation, which is still hampered by high production costs.
The National Board of Revenue issued a notification earlier this week for projects that will begin commercial operations by mid-2030.
The policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in the first five years, 50 percent in the next three years, and 25 percent in the following two years.
“Companies whose commercial production will start between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2030, are exempted from the tax,” NBR chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said in a statement specifying the waivers.
The policy backtracks on the previous government’s 2023 decision to withdraw full tax exemptions for the renewable energy sector, which discouraged local and foreign investors.
“It’s a very timely and good initiative ... it will create confidence among the investors,” Dr. S.M. Nasif Shams, director of the Institute of Energy at Dhaka University and secretary of the Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, told Arab News.
“It’s a good sign that within such a short span of time this interim government came up with this decision for boosting the renewable energy sector. It also complies with Prof. Yunus’ ‘three zero’ concept which he promotes around the world.”
Bangladesh’s caretaker government took office in August when ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country amid violent protests.
It is headed by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and economics professor who invented microcredit, who has been advocating work toward a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emissions.
While Bangladesh aims to achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, currently its clean electricity generation capacity is 1.38 GW or only about 5 percent of the total, which comes mostly from fossil fuels — mainly natural gas.
The country has been struggling for years with energy crises as demand grows about 7 percent a year amid increasing household and industry use, increasing Bangladesh’s dependence on imports as local production is insufficient, with the renewable energy output being among the lowest in the world.
Attracting investors with tax waivers could help with the high costs of building clean energy plants — currently one of the main obstacles to developing the renewable sector in the country.
“This decision will help the country’s economy a lot, as well as it will save the environment in a sustainable way,” Shams said.
“We have to go for renewable energy ... There is no alternative for us.”
India eyes fintech, clean hydrogen cooperation with Saudi Arabia
- Saudi energy minister, India’s commerce minister, co-chair Strategic Partnership Council meeting in Riyadh
- Ministers agree to study feasibility of electrical interconnection between the Kingdom and India
NEW DELHI: India is exploring collaboration with Saudi Arabia in new technologies, clean hydrogen and other emerging fields, the government has said, following Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Riyadh this week.
Goyal was in the Saudi capital to co-chair with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman a ministerial meeting of the Economy and Investment Committee of the Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Council.
“This visit marks a significant milestone in strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Friday.
“Both countries are also exploring collaboration in emerging fields like fintech, new technologies, energy efficiency, clean hydrogen, textiles, mining, etc. The Committee Meeting reviewed these developments and reaffirmed their commitment to advancing cooperation across various areas of shared interest.”
The SPC was established in 2019. Its first meeting took place in New Delhi last year, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to India.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy said in a statement that during the SPC’s Riyadh meeting the two countries also agreed to “study the feasibility of electrical interconnection between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of India.”
During his Riyadh trip, Goyal also took part in the Future Investment Initiative conference on Oct. 29-31, where he met the Kingdom’s Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih and Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef.
The outcomes of the meetings were “expected to unlock new avenues for investment and trade, driving economic growth and innovation in both countries,” the Indian commerce ministry said.
“These engagements focused on collaborative initiatives in trade, energy and technology. These discussions culminated in a series of actionable agreements, aimed at enhancing trade volumes and facilitating a smooth flow of investments between the two countries. The agreements emphasize cooperation in energy transition, digital transformation, and the exchange of expertise to accelerate economic growth.”
Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth-largest trading partner.
Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $43 billion in 2023-24 against $53 billion in 2022-23.
Serbia mourns victims after roof collapse kills 14
NOVI SAD, Serbia: Serbia began a day of mourning on Saturday as authorities announced an investigation after 14 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a train station.
The incident happened early on Friday at the main train station in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Residents lit candles and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial for the victims near the railway station and in the city’s main square on Friday, as well as in other towns.
New gatherings were announced for Saturday.
Authorities have launched an investigation over the incident. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday that “determining responsibility started today.”
Dadic told TV Prava that the prosecutor’s office would be questioning 20 people on Saturday “starting from the top, people from the ministries, the public company (Serbia) Railways.”
He said that police were seizing documents related to the railway station from the ministry of construction, transport and infrastructure.
The Higher Public Prosecutors’ Office in Novi Sad confirmed that an investigation was conducted at the railway station.
It said in a statement that it had ordered the “minister for construction, transport and infrastructure be questioned.”
According to the same statement, the process of identification of all victims was completed on Saturday.
The central railway station in Novi Sad underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July.
Serbia Railways said in a statement that the collapsed roof had not been part of the renovations.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed his condolences and support for the victims’ relatives and vowed to take action.
“Those responsible, I assure you, will be punished,” the president said on Friday.
Three more people injured in the incident remain in a serious condition, the University Clinic Center of Vojvodina said.
