ADB helps finance solar pump order in Bangladesh
German supplier Raach Solar and partner Power Utility Bangladesh have secured two tenders worth a total $9 million to install 705 solar-powered irrigation pumps in the north-western Bogra district of Bangladesh.
The pumps will be financed by an Asian Development Bank grant under the development lender’s power system efficiency improvement project. The program is being carried out by Raach with the Power Utility Bangladesh energy unit of the Dhaka-based, plastics-to-banking Bengal Group of Industries conglomerate.
The government plans to replace 1.34 million diesel irrigation pumps which consume around $1 billion worth of imported fuel annually as well as using solar to displace 365,000 electric pumps which currently draw down almost 2GW of grid power during summer.
With Bangladesh already hosting 1,950 solar pumps, with a total generation capacity of almost 47MW, state financier the Infrastructure Development Company Limited wants 50,000 systems by 2025, and had approved overseas development funding for 1,630 pumps up to October last year. Donor organizations have included the World Bank, German development bank KfW, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and USAID, alongside the ADB.
