Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday said the government plans to gradually replace diesel-powered irrigation pumps with solar-powered system across the country within the next five years.
Replying to a supplementary question from Meherpur-1 MP Md Tajuddin Khan during the Prime Minister’s question-answer session in Parliament, Tarique said all diesel-powered water pumps would be brought under the solar power programme in phases.
“Yes, the current government has this plan. Wherever water pumps are operated by diesel, we will gradually shift all of them to solar power within the next five years, Inshallah,” he said.
Tarique was responding to a question on whether the government planned to provide farmers with solar power free of cost for irrigation instead of diesel-powered engines.
In response to the MP’s starred question, the Prime Minister outlined the government’s broader plan to expand renewable energy, including solar power, to reduce dependence on imported fuel.
He said the government has set a target of meeting at least 20 percent of total electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030 and 30 percent by 2040.
The government has also set targets of generating 5,500MW from rooftop solar, 4,500MW from ground-mounted solar and 450-550MW from other renewable sources, including wind, waste-to-energy, hydropower, floating solar and agrivoltaics by 2030.
Replying to another supplementary question from reserved women’s seat-11 MP Nipun Roy Chowdhury, Tarique said the government was encouraging the use of lithium batteries for solar power storage and would support industries that manufacture them.
He said lead-acid batteries use acid that is harmful to the environment, while lithium batteries are more environmentally friendly.
“The government is trying to encourage lithium batteries. The government will provide all kinds of support to industries that will be established for manufacturing lithium batteries,” he said.
Tarique also indicated that the government might make lithium batteries mandatory for rooftop solar systems in the future.
The parliamentary session began at 3:30pm with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed in the chair.
The first half-hour was allocated for the Prime Minister’s question-answer session.