The country’s first-ever Renewable Energy Fest 2025 kicked off on the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) campus on Wednesday with a call for welcoming clean and green solar as well as wind power.
The two-day event, a joint initiative of BUET, Just Energy Transition Network Bangladesh (JETnet-BD) and ActionAid Bangladesh, will end on April 24, according to organisers.
On the occasion, a rally and a flash mob were organised in Dhaka as part of the global ‘Fund Our Future’ campaign. During the event, participants called for an end to fossil-fuel financing and advocated more investment in renewable energy.
Scores of young climate activists from 10 organisations took part in the peaceful rally, brandishing artworks, songs and posters demanding climate justice. The Renewable Energy Fest highlights the need for an energy transition in Bangladesh, and the role of youth in the process.
Meanwhile, a power sector official says Bangladesh is shifting focus towards renewable energy options, adding that the country’s first centralised onshore wind station in Cox’s Bazar is operational now.
This wind power station will provide an estimated 145 million kilowatts hour (kWh) of clean electricity per year.
Renewable energy options for Bangladesh are bright and in 2030, fossil-fuelled thermal power technologies will be as costly as it is today, but costs of solar, onshore wind and batteries are expected to decline further, according to a Bloomberg study on Bangladesh.
“The cost-competitive landscape of different power generation technologies changes significantly with solar becoming the cheapest. Thermal power plant technologies are mature and well-developed, with little cost reduction expected while the costs of solar, wind and batteries are expected to decline further, thanks to increasing economies of scale and technology improvements.”