REB
2 REB staffers killed in Jamalpur train accident
Two employees of the Rural Electrification Board (BREB) were killed in a train accident at Jamalpur’s Sarishabari upazila as their motorbike was hit by a train heading to Bangabandhu Bridge East Railway Station on Monday.
Deceased Ali Hasan, 35, was a BREB Meter Testing Supervisor of Sarishabari zone, originally from Monakosha Hat Pachil village under Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajganj district, and Sultan Mia, 33, was a BREB electrician and resident of Sarishabari.
According to the police, while crossing the railway line in Satpoya Jamtali area of the upazila, the duo on a motorbike was hit by the Dhaleshwari Express train.
Locals rushed them to Sarishabari Upazila Health Complex, the on-duty doctor declared them dead.
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AGM of BREM Sarishabari zonal office Nurul Huda said that the accident occurred while they were going on a field visit.
SI Mujibul Haque, in-charge of Sarishabari railway police outpost, said two people were killed in the accident but no complaint has yet been received from the families of the victims.
However, an unnatural death case would be filed in this regard, he added.
Solar Home System: IDCOL partners seek govt intervention in loan write-off issue
Five largest partner organisations (POs) of state-owned IDCOL, who played a vital role in expanding the solar home system (SHS), are now seeking the government’s intervention to resolve the loan write-off issue.
Otherwise, they say, they will be deprived of the benefit and face huge losses.
Official sources said IDCOL recently forwarded a proposal to the Bangladesh Bank seeking a write-off approval of Tk 306.41 crore default loans for its 39 POs. Its 44 POs have about Tk 1,400 crore in default loans.
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They said these loans, provided by IDCOL, became default because of the government’s fast grid power expansion programme.
“Grid electricity expanded to the off-grid areas that discouraged SHS consumers to pay back the loans they received from POs. Such unpaid loans finally made the POs defaulters in paying back the IDCOL,” said a top official of a firm involved in the renewable energy programme.
IDCOL had distributed the loan after receiving funds from different donor agencies, including the World Bank.
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According to World Bank’s latest data, an estimated $1,094.93 million was invested in the HSH project to provide electricity to about 20 million people — which means about $266 per household.
Of the investment, 63 percent came from the World Bank, 14 percent from the Asian Development Bank and 12 percent from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The entire fund was distributed by IDCOL as a soft loan which resulted in saving Bangladesh $1,852 million while providing clean energy since 2003, says a recent World Bank survey.
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It said the project helped households gain $745 million, partner organisations $310 million and the IDCOL $379 million while the government's net benefit was $474 million, said the donor agency.
Solar industry insiders said the SHS programme was launched by IDCOL in 2003. In the last 18 years, over 5.5 million solar home systems were installed.
They said that there was a tripartite partnership to the financial model under which IDCOL provided about 70 percent of the total cost of installing the SHS as soft loans to the POs, while the remaining 30 percent was invested by the POs and the customers themselves.
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Two REB workers electrocuted in Shariatpur
Two workers died of electrocution in Char Kotpara village of Naria upazila in Shariatpur while working for local Rural Electrification Board (REB) on Sunday.
Power Division finally comes up to save solar mini-grid investors
Power Division has finally asked all the power distribution entities to directly purchase electricity from solar mini-grid operators to save their investment.