ASIFUR RAHMAN

The government has updated the Renewable Energy Policy after 17 years, aiming to produce at least 20 percent of the national power demand from green sources by 2030.

The new policy offers a 10-year corporate tax exemption for all government and private renewable energy producers, followed by another five years of partial tax exemption.

The Renewable Energy Policy 2025 was uploaded on the Power Division’s website yesterday. It allows all types of customers—residential, industrial, and commercial—to set up renewable energy systems on rooftops, in yards or premises.

The power produced can be sold to government agencies or private entities, following the Net Metering Guidelines 2018, it said.

Currently, Bangladesh has a capacity of around 1,563 megawatts (MW) of grid and non-grid power from renewable energy, which is about 8 percent of the current demand and 5.6 percent of the country’s total capacity of 27,426 MW.

The government will encourage peer-to-peer (P2P) trade in renewable energy—a decentralized system that enables electricity consumers with solar panels or renewable systems to directly trade the excess electricity they generate with other consumers using distribution and transmission networks.

Electricity distribution companies will cover their commanding areas for electrification through solar mini, micro, nano, and pico grids or hybrid systems incorporating other renewable energy sources, where electrification by the national grid is not feasible, the policy said.

In addition, the private sector may install and operate solar- or RE-based mini, micro, nano, and pico grids on a competitive market basis, wherever applicable. The electricity distribution tariff will be determined by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Sustainable and Renewable