The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has proposed a Tk 6.48 per kilowatt-hour benchmark tariff for renewable electricity to be procured from merchant power plants, drawing sharp opposition from consumer rights activists have who called the rate unacceptable and unreasonable.
The commission’s technical evaluation committee recommended the tariff at a public hearing held at the International Mother Language Institute auditorium in the capital’s Segunbagicha recently.
Questioning the proposed tariff, Consumers Association of Bangladesh energy adviser M Shamsul Alam said the rate was significantly higher than tariffs for solar power in neighbouring countries.
‘If we take the current exchange rate of Tk 123 to the US dollar, the solar power tariff is Tk 3.80 in India and Tk 3.90 in Pakistan,’ he said, adding that the BERC technical committee had set the tariff at Tk 6.48.
