German company ib vogt has signed a contract with state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to set up a 50 MW solar PV power plant at Mirsarai Upazila in Chattagram.

As per the contract, the German company will implement the project on 160 acres of land within 15 months and BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant over a period of 20 years at a rate of $10.94 per kilowatt hour (each unit).

The tariff was announced as equivalent to Tk 8.75 per unit as per calculation of the exchange rate at Tk 80 per US dollar, although the current US dollar rate went to Tk 124 in the open market.

This has been a solicited project which was won by the German company through a bidding process in 2019. But it took about 5 years for the sponsor to get land by purchase from the local owners.

Currently, the plant will be set up at hilly area in Mirsarai upazila by the Sonagazi Solar Power Company, a subsidiary of the iv vogt.

Initially Sonagazi was supposed to be the site for the project. But later it was changed by the sponsor company.

Addressing the signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid urged the German company to protect the hills while developing the project.

“You must protect the hills although you are setting up an environment friendly project”, he told the function.

Nasrul Hamid has also said that the government has set a goal to achieve “zero carbon” in the energy sector by 2050 under which 40 percent electricity will be generated from clean energy sources by 2041.

Some 10,000 MW of solar power will be generated from solar power by 2030 which is now 600 MW, he added.

The function was also addressed by Power Secretary Habibur Rahman and BPDB chairman Mahbubur Rahman.