Introduction

Launched in June 2021 with the endorsement of the Minister of Energy, the Team Europe Initiative Green Energy Transition (TEI GET) in Bangladesh is co-chaired by the European Union (EU) and Germany. It includes the active participation of EU Member States (Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy) as well as like-minded partners like Switzerland, Norway and the European Investment Bank (EIB), working together on the green energy transition in Bangladesh, including in the form of studies and workshops, joint activities and site visits, a joint policy dialogue and consultations with the Government of Bangladesh, CSOs, the private sector and other stakeholders.

With an overall ongoing and planned projects’ portfolio of around EUR 1.3 billion, including grant and loans, TEI GET aims to support Bangladesh to have in place a power system that leads to maximum coverage of the country`s energy demand through renewable energy, while reducing demand through energy efficiency.

The priorities of TEI GET are built around four pillars:

1. Politics and society support a low carbon power system and a conducive policy/regulatory framework;
2. An effective market for sustainable energy is in place, setting the right incentives for the best technology  at the right place;
3. The grid infrastructure is continuously optimized, smarter and, where necessary, expanded to integrate the growing share of variable renewable energy sources;
4. Energy efficiency is enhanced in generation, distribution and consumption.

Team Europe in Bangladesh also reflects an EU increased commitment and investment in the energy and power sector, particularly through 4 key operations:

• EU-EIB Bangladesh Renewable Energy Facility, with a EUR 350 million loan and a 45 million grant. Now that the facility has been agreed, we need to discuss the pipeline, to have concrete projects and hopefully co-financing by European financers;
• EU-Germany funded Technical Assistance on the partnership for Green Energy Transition, inter alia working on the enabling regulatory and  policy framework (EUR 5+7 million);
• A project scaling up green construction in Bangladesh, with a focus on the brick sector (EUR 10 million + co-financing);
• A regional project on Regional Energy Connectivity in South Asia (EUR 5 million);

Watch at this link a short video to see what the Team Europe Initiative green Energy Transition is all about!

High-level event on “Opportunities for Scaling up Rooftop Solar in Bangladesh”, 10th March, 2024, Westin, Dhaka

A high-level event was organized by European Union Delegation to Bangladesh titled as, “Opportunities for Scaling up Rooftop Solar in Bangladesh” on Sunday, 10^th March, 2024 in Dhaka at The Westin. The event was hosted by the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh and was organized under the Team Europe Initiative Green Energy Transition (TEI GET).

This high-level event, bringing together public and private partners in the green energy sector in Bangladesh, disseminated the preliminary results of the EU funded study: “Barriers and Opportunities for Scaling Up Rooftop Solar in Bangladesh”, followed by a panel discussion on the findings, recommendations and possible ways forward.  With the purview of the study, the event looked in particular into Bangladesh’s Net Metering scheme, which  aims to promote the expansion of primarily solar PV based renewable electricity in Bangladesh by encouraging prosumers (consumers and producers) to install solar PV systems on their premises or rooftops.

Mr. Habibur Rahman, Senior Secretary Power Division, MPEMR attended the event as Chief Guest. As Special Guest, the event was attended by Ms. Munira Sultana, Chairperson, Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA).

Opening remarks were delivered by Mr. Michal Krejza, Head of Development Cooperation and Minister Counsellor, EU Delegation to Bangladesh.

H.E. Charge D´Affairs, Bernd Spanier highlighted that the Team Europe approach to Green Energy Transition has the ambition to have a transformational impact.

The keynote presentation on the study was given by Professor Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, Director, Center for Energy Research, United International University, followed by a panel discussion, focusing on barriers, opportunities, investment and success stories on rooftop solar in Bangladesh. The distinguished panellists included high-level representatives from Sustainable Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), SOLARIC, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), H&M Group, Fareast Knitting and Dyeing Industry and Joules Power Limited.

The eminent panel was facilitated by Dr. Md. Ziaur Rahman Khan, Professor, EEE, BUET.

Some key documents related to the event:

• Agenda
• Final Report - Barriers and Opportunities of Rooftop Solar
• EU Opportunities for Scaling Up Solar Rooftop in Bangladesh

European Union      European Union

European Union

TEI GET Retreat 2023

On 2 November 2023, the Members of the Team Europe Initiative on the Green Energy Transition came together for their second retreat discussion, aiming at defining and committing to ways of making the TEI GET more instrumental for the green energy transition in Bangladesh, discussing upcoming priorities and how to strengthen the role of the TEI in making progress on these priorities, focusing on the enabling regulatory and policy framework, energy efficiency, renewable energy, the required grid, financing and regional energy connectivity.

The retreat contributed to:

• A common understanding of the most relevant issues in the area of the Green Energy Transition
• A common vision of the TEI Green Energy Transition
• Shared expectations towards the co-leads and the secretariat as well as commitments from the participants for shaping and organising the work of the TEI GET
• Team Building
• Increased involvement in and ownership of the Team Europe Initiative on Green Energy Transition by the member states

Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh

TEI GET previous activities

Over the past 2 years, TEI GET has engaged in a number of activities, including: the joint design of a TEI GET rolling document, a projects’ portfolio mapping table, yearly activities plan, consolidated TEI comments to key Government sector plans/policies. Team Europe jointly participated in the 11th Local Consultative Group (LCG) Power and Energy (May 2023).

Moreover, several Team Europe consultation meetings took place, specifically with: JICA, WB, ADB  (2021), with the Private Sector (2021), Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) (September 2022), with representatives of CSOs, in May and November 2023.

A team Europe High-level event on Investing in Green Energy Transition took place on 6th December 2022, with the participation of the Hon. State Minister Energy and the Hon. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Energy Affairs. Two TEI Exposure Field visits were organized, in June 2022 and in August 2023.

Photos:

Studies

A number of key sector relevant scoping studies were identified by Team Europe and completed, among which:

• Power Grid Stability in Bangladesh
• Efficiency Improvement in Electricity Generation
• Options for Energy Storage in Bangladesh
• Women engagement in green Energy Transition
• Incentives for Green Investments in Bangladesh
• Study on the Feasibility of Wind Power in Bangladesh and Proposed Interventions (2021-2025)