The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a view exchange meeting yesterday said that the renewable energy can play a vital role for solving power crisis in the rural areas of the country.

If the government withdraws all duty fees and other taxes on the import the machineries, the volume of the private sector investment will increase to produce electricity, they opined.

The speakers expressed their views at the meeting after visiting several biogas plants at Mawna and Baratopa in Gazipur district yesterday. The Grameen Sakti (GS), Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCL) and Renewable Energy Journalists' Forum of Bangladesh (REJFB) jointly organised the view exchange meeting.

Abser Kamal, General Manager of Grameen Sakti said that the government should withdraw tax and duty on the imported equipment for the installation of renewable energy plants." It is the fast growing sector in our country.If the government provides adequate support, we will be able to produce enough electricity to meet its demand for the rural people", he maintained.

MA Gofran, a biogas consultant of GS, said, " we have failed to utilise cow dung properly for producing biogas due to lack of knowledge."

"About 22 million of cattle generate 220 million kilograms of dung per day in our country. This quantity of dung can produce huge amount of biogas in the country," he said adding, "The climate of Bangladesh is suitable for most of the renewable energy technologies like biogas, solar, wind, wave, improved cook stoves and geothermal."

SM Monirul Islam, General Manager of IDCOL, said that the government has provided subsidy to set up renewable energy plants. "We have provided financial as well as logistic support to different organisations to expand the renewable energy plants in the country," he added. Moinuddin Ahmed, Convenor of REJFB, also spoke on the occasion.

During the visit to some biogas plants at Mawna and Baratopa, the owners of the plants expressed their satisfaction over the performances of the plants and benefits of such venture in rural areas.

Abdur Razzaque, an owner of a biogas plant at Mawna Bazaar, said that he installed a biogas plant at a cost of Tk 28,825 with a loan from GS." My monthly earnings now stand at Tk 4,700 by selling biogas to my nine neighbours", he added.