Bangladesh has 1.6 million pumps, of which approximately 21% are electric-powered and the remainder diesel-powered.
Boro rice is central for achieving food security in Bangladesh and almost entirely irrigated using diesel pumps. Bangladesh spends approximately USD 2.6 billion per year on imported diesel. The country pledges to make a 20% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030. Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh, 2008 has set a target to obtain least 10% of its power needs through renewable sources by 2020.
Currently, Bangladesh has installed 573 MW of renewable energy, of which 339 MW is solar, and 28 MW comes from 1,337 solar irrigation pumps. Majority of the solar pumps are installed by IDCOL and the rest through a variety of sources, such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, Bangladesh Rural Electricity Board (BREB), and the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA)
IDCOL – our partner in SoLAR project, is the main financer and implementer of SIP programs in Bangladesh. Solar pumps installed through IDCOL are mostly in the northwest region of Bangladesh. These areas are also areas with less flooding, low arsenic levels, high boro cultivation, and a high density of diesel pumps.
A two-member team from SoLAR-SA, Bangladesh along with a personnel from its partnering organization, IDCOL visited several SIP sites in the Gaibandha, Birganj and Dinajpur districts of Bangladesh from 11th to 13th February 2022. The purpose of the visit was to understand the operational mechanisms, design and technical details through interaction SIP operators and field partners.
From 21st February to 1st March 2022 a two-member team from IWMI, SoLAR – Bangladesh visited 10 sites, five each in Northwest and Southwest Bangladesh. These visits were to monitor the progress of the implementation work carried out by NGO Forum, and to measure the flow rates of the SIP vis-à-vis the diesel pumps.
Between August-September 2021, a household survey covering 900 farmers across 60 villages in the Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Bogura districts of North Bengal was conducted by our partner NGO Forum.
Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), in partnership with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh and WAVE Foundation, organized a one-day training programme for farmers under the ongoing SDC funded SoLAR-SA project in Bangladesh.
IWMI, in partnership with the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) and NGO Forum, is working to assess the impact of solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) schemes in Bangladesh.
