Solar power can fast-track Bangladesh beyond fossil fuels: Report

Countries like Bangladesh can achieve faster, cheaper, and more secure development by bypassing fossil fuels and accelerating toward solar, batteries, and electrification, according to a new analysis by Ember in partnership with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers.

The report, "The Electric Fast-Track for Emerging Markets," highlights a major global shift already underway.

Nearly half of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries are now outpacing the United States in solar adoption, challenging the long-held belief that fossil fuels are the only viable path to economic growth.

For Bangladesh and other import-dependent economies, the stakes are particularly high.

The report, launched today (2 April), finds that Bangladesh spends a significant share of its trade deficit on fossil fuel imports (around 59%), exposing the economy to global price shocks.

Across vulnerable economies, fossil fuel imports reached $155 billion in 2024.

Ongoing geopolitical instability could push costs even higher, adding up to $30 billion in additional burden.

With global fuel markets facing renewed volatility, including tensions linked to the Middle East, the report argues that continued reliance on imported fossil fuels poses growing economic risks.

"In LDCs, the $88 a year that families once saved for flood protection is being swallowed by a 40% spike in fuel and food prices. We are no longer just importing oil; we are importing a debt crisis that will paralyse a generation," said M Zakir Hossain Khan, co-founder and managing director, Change Initiative.

He added, "For a nation like Bangladesh, this conflict imposes an additional $5 billion annual burden, making the mobilisation of 50% renewable energy in vulnerable nations a necessity to protect natural rights, not a luxury,"

"When families are forced to choose between today's fuel and tomorrow's survival, the global financial system has failed. To break this cycle, we must pivot ourselves to renewable energy sovereignty and replace high-interest loans with grants & philanthropic, carbon tax, debt for nature swaps and other innovative finance. We cannot borrow our way out of a burning house."

The report highlights a rapidly emerging alternative, "electrotech" a system built on solar power, battery storage, and electric technologies that is now cheaper, faster to deploy, and more resilient.

Clean energy already accelerating faster than official data shows.

The analysis reveals that the energy transition in climate-vulnerable countries is happening faster than widely understood.

46% of CVF countries have already surpassed the United States in solar uptake.

In 8 out of 10 countries, solar panel imports are at least three times higher than official installation data suggests.

Prices of key technologies — including solar, batteries, and electric appliances have fallen by 30% to 95% over the past decade

This indicates a fast-growing, largely decentralised clean energy boom, driven by households, businesses, and small-scale investments rather than large infrastructure projects.

A cheaper and faster path to energy access

Unlike fossil fuel systems, which require large, centralised infrastructure and heavy upfront investment, electrotech solutions can be deployed incrementally making them particularly suited to countries like Bangladesh.

Key advantages highlighted in the report include, lower upfront costs.

Solar is now less capital-intensive than fossil fuel power.

Solar-plus-battery systems can deliver electricity without waiting for grid expansion.

The report also notes that decentralised solar and battery systems are already proving more cost-effective than extending the national grid in many cases — especially for underserved or remote communities.

"In the last decade and a half, Bangladesh ramped up power generation capacity, mostly relying on fossil fuels, which has exposed the country to the volatile international energy market and continues to raise its subsidy burden.

The economics of renewable energy, and solar energy in particular, make it a compelling choice for Bangladesh to insulate it from the volatile international fossil fuel market," said Shafiqul Alam, lead analyst for Bangladesh energy, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

"What appears encouraging is that many industries have already implemented rooftop solar systems and many are considering rooftop solar now more than a few years ago. The pipeline of rooftop solar in the industry sector also seems promising," he said.

From energy deficit to energy opportunity

The findings suggest that Bangladesh and similar economies are not locked into the traditional fossil fuel pathway.

Instead, they have a unique opportunity to leapfrog directly from energy scarcity to energy abundance, using rapidly falling-cost technologies.

Beyond energy access, this shift could improve industrial productivity, reduce fiscal pressure from fuel imports, create new markets and jobs in clean energy systems, and strengthen long-term economic stability.