ZCZC
BSS-36
AWARD-SOLAR-PROJECT
IDCOL wins global award of ARE for rural electrification
DHAKA, May 30, 2020 (BSS) – The Bangladeshi clean energy company,
Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), has won the Alliance for
Rural Electrification (ARE) award for its solar mini-grid projects.
The IDCOL got the award in the “Multilateral/International Organisation”
category for its solar mini-grids, including the Monpura Island project,
which is implemented in partnership with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a UNDP
press release said.
Since 2015, ARE, a Brussels based non-profit global business association
in the rural electrification sector, has played a leading role in recognising
clean energy access initiatives by the most passionate and innovative actors
in the field. ARE received 77 applications this year and unveiled the six
winners on May 18.
IDCOL is the first organisation from Bangladesh to receive this
prestigious award. Winners from previous years in this category include GIZ,
UN Capital Development Fund, European Commission’s Directorate-General for
International Cooperation and EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue
Facility.
“We are delighted that ARE recognized IDCOL’s mini-grids projects as key
to expanding energy access in Bangladesh and elsewhere too,” said UNDP
Bangladesh Resident Representative Sudipto Mukerjee.
“As we have seen on the ground, innovative solar mini-grids projects are
relatively easy to install, perate and maintain, and bring multiple benefits
to local communities. The Monpura Island project is a great showcase for it,”
Mukerjee added.
As the COVID-19 crisis and Cyclone Amphan continue to lay bare the
pressures that many people face across Bangladesh, this award is a timely
recognition that clean energy projects can help these communities build
resilience, according the press release.
The award highlights in particular the important role mini-grids can play
in Bangladesh’s national strategy of universal access to electricity by 2021.
UNDP has long been promoting clean energy in the country, and is supporting
renewable energy projects that bring life-changing access to electricity in
rural areas.
IDCOL was selected for implementing solar mini-grid projects in Bangladesh
through the development of a sustainable business model, which ensures
productive access to electricity for the last mile population living in off-
grid areas, while facilitating local industries by creating jobs and
supporting local businesses.
The Monpura Island project was implemented under UNDP’s “Sustainable
Renewable Energy Power Generation Project” in partnership with the
Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) at the
Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resource. It provides uninterrupted
supply of grid quality electricity to 1,199 households, 684 shops, and 41
institutions on the island.
The island’s only source of electricity used to be the Bangladesh Power
Development Board’s generators at Monpura Sadar, which ran for only six hours
a day. Expanding the national grid to the remote island located in the
estuary of the Meghna River in the northern Bay of Bengal would have been
exceptionally challenging and expensive.
Monpura’s local communities now have access to a regular supply of
electricity through the project’s two mini-grids — one of 279.5 kWp, and the
other of 218.4 kWp capacity.
“Access to electricity has truly changed our lives,” said Md Faruk, a
local resident. “It’s been particularly beneficial for businesses, which can
now rely on a steady supply of electricity to use technology for their
activities,” he added.
In addition to UNDP and the GEF, IDCOL partners with numerous development
actors across the country, including the World Bank, JICA, UKAID, KfW, USAID,
GPOBA and ADB. The award will be handed over to IDCOL at the 6th ARE Energy
Access Investment Forum to be held in September 2020 in Lusaka, Zambia.
UNDP’s commitment to realising Sustainable Development Goal 7 by bringing
affordable, clean energy to communities across the country is strengthened by
ARE’s recognition of IDCOL, said the release.
BSS/PR/MRI/GA/1853 hrs