The government of Bangladesh is planning to implement a duty-free import facility for solar-powered water desalination plants to ensure affordable and safe drinking water for coastal communities. The initiative aims to address the water needs of coastal residents who lack access to grid electricity, particularly those in salinity-prone areas in the southern region. Finance Minister is expected to announce this plan during his budget speech for fiscal year 2023-24 on June 1.
Industry experts believe that providing duty-free access to solar power plant equipment imports will promote renewable energy transition and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. A foreign company specializing in solar-powered desalination systems is already working on a project to install around 1,500 units of these plants in southern Bangladesh, benefiting approximately 50,000 coastal communities.
This new facility is anticipated to encourage more stakeholders to invest in the sector. Local water and wastewater solutions provider, FloWater Solutions Ltd, lauded the initiative and emphasized the immense potential in the sector. Bangladesh currently has approximately 1171.27MW of renewable energy generation, including 937.28MW of solar capacity, according to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA).
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