Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development

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The Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development aims at raising the levels of social development, and economic growth in Bangladesh, by increasing access to electricity in rural areas, where most of the country's poor population live. The key components will support: 1) rural electrification systems expansion, intensification, and rehabilitation, through the construction of new power lines, rehabilitation of previously transferred lines, and expansion of distribution substations, and associated facilities. The component will further facilitate, and finance the takeover, rehabilitation, and loss-reduction program of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PBDB) lines, in a three-phase transfer of lines. Technical assistance (TA) will support the Rural Electrification Board (REB) institutional development, including financial restructuring, socioeconomic impact, monitoring and evaluation, environmental safeguards, and poverty reduction aspects of electricity provision; 2) implementation of a free-for-service solar home system (SHS) program, that includes a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant program for capital cost buy-down to increase project financing, for the provision of installation grants; however, these grants will be contingent on actual consumer installation of systems. TA will support REB in the development of the solar program, build awareness among communities, and establish and train solar service units, for the deployment of staff to implement the project; and, 3) promotion of conditional sales of the SHS program by the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL), based on micro-finance from nongovernmental organizations, and financial institutions. TA will support the establishment of a renewable energy market development, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation.