Mushir Ahmed

Renewable energy leader Grameen Shakti has said it would launch its service in Dhaka and major urban centres this month to meet the fast-growing electricity need in the country's major cities.

The social business enterprise would make the much-expected foray by selling solar household systems to two of the capital's top restaurants, its award winning chief executive Dipal Barua told FE.

The company has also designed a raft of new solar energy packages for the city's hundreds of thousands of houeholds, Dipal said.

"We will sell SHSs that can ensure uninterrupted power for at least four hours in the night. There is already a big queue for our services."

The move comes amid acute power shortages in the capital Dhaka and across the country. The electricity crunch has become so severe that in some areas the costly Instant Power Services can't cover the outages.

Experts said the move would change the country's renewable energy landscape, boosting their growth in areas left unexplored by the country's top solar energy leaders.

Dipal said they were making entry into the capital as they saw huge demand for solar power among the middle and upper class people.

"The IPS is no longer a viable solution for power cuts in the capital. If you don't have enough grid power, you can't even charge your IPS battery, which is prompting people to think of alternative solution," Dipal said.

Abser Kamal, the general manager of the GS, said the company would sell SHS package between Tk 60,000 and Tk 114,000, depending on the need of the clients.

"The minimum package would power two ceiling fans and two energy saving bulbs. The Tk 114,000 package would power three ceiling fans, a 21-inch colour television and three bulbs," he said.

GS officials said they can now compete with IPS providers, given the severity of the power situation in the capital.

"Unlike IPS, our solar panel is warranted for 20 years. And it's not taking any energy from the grid for conservation. We have enough solar power and we are just making maximum use of it," Dipal said.

He said the city packages had become costlier as they were not getting any soft-loan refinancing from the state-owned renewable energy lender, IDCOL.

It was partly due to IDCOL's easy refinancing scheme launched in 2003 that made Grameen Shakti a big success story in the country's move towards renewable energy.

The company has so far sold around 300,000 SHS --- covering a population of around 2.5 million people --- in the areas where there is no grid electricity.

GS sells the SHSs between Tk 12,000 and Tk 50,000, with battery guaranteed for five years and panel 20 years.

Dipal said the company's focus would still be on rural areas, where they were struggling to meet "overwhelming demand" for their products.

"Every month, we are adding some 10,000 SHS. The demand is such that we've upped our budget to Tk 7.00 billion this year from Tk 3.00 in 2008."