US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded nearly $1.5 million technical assistance grant to Power Cell, a policy and planning agency under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh.

The assistance will help improve the reliability, affordability and resiliency of Bangladesh’s electricity grid through smart grid infrastructure.

 “For USTDA, the grant we are signing is an important example of the climate-smart infrastructure projects we are looking to support,” said Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally (Ret.), USTDA’s Acting Director.

“It has the potential to shape Bangladesh’s power grid, to make it more efficient and dynamic, and to create a stronger foundation for the integration of renewable energy solutions.”

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 USTDA’s assistance will provide a detailed roadmap that will provide an investment and implementation schedule for using smart grid technologies to improve the grid in Bangladesh over the next ten years.

Massachusetts-based Boston Consulting Group will carry out the assistance.

 “Two-way communication brought about by a smart grid will allow us to generate and use power more intelligently and efficiently.  Implementing a smart grid is therefore an infrastructure development as potent as any bridge or flyover,” said Helen LaFave, Chargé d’Affaires, of the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

This activity advances the goals of USTDA’s Global Partnership for Climate-Smart Infrastructure, which connects U.S. industry to major clean transport and energy infrastructure projects in emerging markets.

 The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies.

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USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.