IDCOL to finance solar project for Fakhruddin Textile Mills

Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) signed a facility agreement with Fakhruddin Textile Mills Ltd on February 23, to finance a rooftop solar project for the textile firm, said a press release.

The project's capacity would be 2037.75 kilowatt-peak (kWp), meaning the installed solar panels would produce 2037.75 kilowatts of electricity in every hour, when exposed to the full sun-radiation.

The produced solar power will reduce electricity bills of Fakhruddin Textile Mills and the diesel consumption during load shedding.

As per the agreement, IDCOL will provide concessional loan of Tk11.27 crore or 78 percent of the total project cost, which is Tk14.09 crore. By 2022, the government owned-IDCOL plans to finance more rooftop solar projects to contribute with 300 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar power for the country's industrial sector.

Mahmood Malik, executive director and CEO of IDCOL and Asif Ashraf, managing director of Fakhruddin Textile Mills Ltd signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Currently the unit cost of electricity from rooftop solar is below Tk8, which makes the proposed investment very lucrative as the tariff is cheaper than the grid electricity tariff. In addition, Fakhruddin Textile Mills can export the unutilised electricity to be generated from the project to the national grid under the Net Metering Guideline 2018.

Also present from IDCOL were Mohammed Jabed Emran, chief risk officer, Md Enamul Karim Pavel, head of Renewable Energy and Farzana Rahman, executive vice president of Renewable Energy.

Faiaz Rahman, director of Fakhruddin Textile Mills was also present at the signing event alongside other officials from both the organisations.

It is worth noting that Fakhruddin Textile Mills is a concern of Urmi Group.