Bangladesh targets 20% renewable electricity by 2030: PM

Bangladesh has set a target to generate at least 20% of its total electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 30% by 2040 to curb dependence on imported fuels and prioritise renewable energy to meet growing demand, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman told parliament today (9 September).

Under the government's National Renewable Energy Development Strategy for 2026-2030, he said, the country aims to generate 5,500 megawatts of electricity from rooftop solar systems and 4,500MW from ground-mounted solar projects by 2030.

Another 450MW to 550MW is targeted from wind, waste-to-energy, hydropower, floating solar, and agrivoltaics, among other technologies, he added.

The prime minister disclosed the targets in a written response to a question from Meherpur-1 MP Md Tajuddin Khan during the question-answer session of the third session of the 13th parliament.

"Considering the country's growing electricity demand, the government has identified renewable energy as a priority sector to reduce dependence on imported fuel," said the prime minister.

The prime minister also said the government has also introduced incentives to encourage electricity generation from renewable sources, including conditional exemptions from various duties and taxes on solar panels, inverters, batteries and supporting structures used for solar installations.

He said the maximum generation cost for rooftop solar systems with batteries was set at Tk8 per unit on 1 September 2026.

As part of a special incentive package, the government has fixed the purchase price of electricity supplied to the national grid at Tk10.50 per unit, taking into account a 20% profit margin on generation cost and an 11.25% premium.

Under the notification, consumers who install rooftop solar systems by 28 February 2027 in accordance with the Net Metering Guideline 2025 and supply surplus electricity to the national grid after meeting their own consumption needs will receive Tk10.50 per unit for the following three years, until 28 February 2030.

The prime minister also told parliament that the government has formulated several policies and guidelines to expand renewable energy.

These include the "Guideline for Development of Renewable Energy Projects on Land Owned by Government Agencies under the PPP Model, 2026," the "Policy for Increasing Private Participation in Renewable Energy-Based Power Generation, 2025," the "Renewable Energy Policy, 2025," the "Net Metering Guideline, 2025" and the "National Rooftop Solar Programme, 2025."

He said guidelines have also been formulated on business models for waste-to-energy generation, onshore wind development and carbon credit processing.