Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated Bangladesh’s largest solar power plant in Gaibandha’s Sundarganj “as part of efforts to fulfil her pledge” to improve the standard of life of people in the region.

The prime minister opened the 200 megawatt plant, Teesta Solar, from a rally in Rangpur during her visit to the northern division on Wednesday.

She later watched the plant, constructed by conglomerate Beximco Group’s Beximco Power on a 650-acre piece of infertile land, from the helicopter on her way back to Dhaka.

The plant has been supplying power to the national grid experimentally since December 2022.

The project with 550,000 solar panels was launched in the Latshala area on the bank of the Teesta river in 2017.

To connect the plant with the national grid via Rangpur, 35-kilometre long 132 kilovolt transmission lines have been set up with 122 towers.

Substations and inverters have also been set up.

To protect the plant from natural calamities, such as floods and river bank erosion, a dam and a 7-kilometre long road have been constructed.

The dam and the road are also benefiting the locals.

Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, chairman of Beximco Power, said Hasina has a roadmap to tackle global warming and conserve the environment.

The conglomerate decided to invest in the renewable energy sector because the company, as a pioneer in many other sectors, believes this sector will become significant in the future energy sector, he said.

Beximco launched Bangladesh’s first sukuk, a Shariah-compliant debt instrument, to finance the solar power station.

It spent nearly $300 million on the construction of the plant fully owned by the company, according to him.

“We’re thinking about setting up more solar power plants following the government’s plan.”

Shayan believes the project in Gaibandha will play a role in creating jobs and a business-friendly environment, besides increasing power supply to the northern region.

Amid a global crisis of fossil fuel to generate electricity, the Hasina administration is prioritising renewable sources of energy.

Beximco, with Hasina’s Advisor on Private Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman as vice-chairman, is constructing another solar power plant in the northern region of the country.