Marubeni To Build 100 MW Solar Project In Bangladesh

Japanese business group Marubeni Corporation has announced it will be developing a 100 MW solar PV power plant in Feni located in Bangladesh's Chittagong region, under a memorandum of understanding signed with the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh Limited (EGCB).

Part of the Bangladesh Development Board (BPDB), local utility EGCB signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Marubeni for the joint development of the said project, approved by the country's Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

"If this Project is realized, it will become one of the largest scale solar power plants in the country, and the first Independent Power Producer project for Marubeni in the country," said Marubeni that has already installed close to 1.3 GW of gas-fired and hydro power plants in Bangladesh.

EGCB had launched an expression of interest (EOI) in November 2018 to select a joint venture partner to build 100 MW Feni solar project (see Bangladesh Utility Wants Partner For PV Project).

While for Marubeni, this commitment to build the 100 MW solar power project is aligned with the group's plans to accelerate its activities in the renewable energy sector as it goes about reducing its coal-fired generation business globally, for Bangladesh the project is to contribute to the country's aims to expand its renewable energy capacity in the total power mix.

In an October 2020 draft of a new study, the country's Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) and the UNDP claimed 40 GW solar PV power potential for Bangladesh by 2041 under an accelerated scenario, as compared to 8 GW under a business-as-usual scenario (see Study Sees 40 GW Solar Energy Potential For Bangladesh).