As it prepares to lift the nation out of its list of the world’s least developed countries, the supranational body said the country should turn its back on coal and other fossil fuels.

The government will add modules and inverters to the list of imported products which must meet minimum standards. Charge controllers and batteries are already subject to such requirements.

The Bangladeshi government is focusing on the development of solar and wind power as it seeks to boost renewable energy generation in the country. Clean energy proponents say the strategy will lead to lower government subsidies for electricity generation.

The new financing scheme is aimed at helping factories to upgrade, acquire renewable energy-related machinery and technology and increase environment-friendly production in an effort to achieve sustainable development goals.

The Bangladeshi government has launched a pilot hydrogen production project as part of its effort to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

Some 15% of the finance disbursed must fit the wider definition of being ‘sustainable’ and banks and other lenders have been warned penalties will be applied for non compliance.

The facility was jointly funded by the Asian Development Bank and German state development lender the KfW.

More than 500 factories have registered to make their manufacturing facilities more eco friendly in the garment exporting powerhouse and the nation’s net metering rules offer an obvious step in the right direction.

A 50 MW PV project, located in northern central Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, has begun supplying electricity to the national grid. Full commercial operations for the plant are expected to begin in January.

The proposal includes 1 GW of solar farms on an army training base island in the estuary of the Meghna river.