A senior energy executive says Bangladesh’s push to generate 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 is unlikely to succeed because the country lacks the sunlight and land needed for large-scale solar power.
Monirul Islam Akhand, managing director of Summit Power Limited, said Bangladesh remains overcast four to five months each year, sharply reducing output from solar farms. He added that producing a single megawatt requires two to three acres of land, space the densely populated nation does not have. Akhand said his 449-megawatt plant in Gazipur sits on 25.5 acres, while an equivalent solar facility would need nearly 1,400 acres.
Akhand spoke at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2025 organized by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS).
“Can we sacrifice agricultural land when we can barely feed our people?” he asked.