Northern Electricity Supply PLC (NESCO) is set to install rooftop solar systems across 16 northern districts under a Tk 24.83 crore project funded largely by an Asian Development Bank grant.
The Planning Commission’s Special Project Evaluation Committee last week recommended the project for approval with some readjustments, including cuts to training, honorarium and management costs.
Following the changes, the project will install 2.40 megawatts of solar power, up from the originally proposed 1.955MW, according to Mohammad Ashraful Islam, joint chief of the Power Wing of the commission’s Industry and Energy Division.
The project, titled “Capacity Building and Rooftop Solar System Implementation in NESCO Islands & Sub-stations,” will cover NESCO’s distribution areas in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.
The Asian Development Bank will provide Tk 24.36 crore as a grant, accounting for 98.09 percent of the project cost, while NESCO will contribute Tk 47.31 lakh.
The project is scheduled to run from July 2026 to June 2029.
The solar systems will be installed at NESCO’s 33/11kV substations, a 33kV switching station, data centre, disaster recovery centre, rest houses and office buildings. Three customer institutions will also receive systems.
Solar installations are also planned for schools and community health centres in remote and off-grid char areas of the north. The objective is to help keep essential services running and provide electricity during disasters.
Fifteen battery energy storage systems, each with a capacity of 20 kilowatt-hours, will be installed alongside the solar systems.
The project also provides for rooftop solar with net metering at NESCO substations and other buildings, in line with the Power Division’s push to expand renewable energy use.
Income-generating activities
The project includes income-generating activities for local people, particularly women and disadvantaged groups, with 2,400 people to receive training on 10 business concepts.
The income-generating component was one of the issues examined by the Planning Commission, as NESCO is primarily a power distribution company.
The commission had questioned the rationale for spending project funds on entrepreneurship training and items such as sewing machines, beauty kits and mobile servicing kits, and sought clarification under the government’s Allocation of Business.
However, the Planning Commission subsequently recommended the project with readjustments.
According to Ashraful Islam, the income-generating activities are part of the grant component of a larger $350 million ADB-financed programme.
“The project is actually a CSR part of a larger $350 million loan from the ADB, which stipulates that the grants, actually coming from JICA through ADB, will have to be spent on income-generating activities [for] project beneficiaries,” he said.
“So, we only tried to cut some fat from the training programme, honorarium and management cost so that the money can be utilized to install more solar power,” he added.
The readjustments will save about Tk 3 crore, which will be used to expand rooftop solar installations. As a result, the planned solar generation capacity will rise to 2.40MW from the proposed 1.955MW.
The training component will involve 36,000 person-days. NESCO officers and employees will receive another 14,430 person-days of service-based training aimed at improving customer service and power supply through modern technology.
The project will provide trainees with 240 sewing machines, 33 computers, 240 beauty kits, 240 mobile servicing kits, 240 tool boxes and 240 block-batik sets. It will also provide 240 block-batik sets and 2,400 sets of pens, writing pads and bags.
16 northern districts
The project will cover eight districts in Rajshahi division—Rajshahi, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Bogura, Pabna and Sirajganj—and eight in Rangpur division—Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh.
The project also includes a feasibility study for sustainable long-term electrification of off-grid Char Asariadah in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi.
The Power Division is the sponsoring agency and NESCO is the implementing agency.
The ADB grant agreement has already been signed, while a linked loan-financed project has also been approved and is under implementation, according to the project proposal.
The project is listed among the new projects in the FY2026-27 Annual Development Programme.
The Planning Commission had also sought revisions to the project’s situation analysis and reductions in some cost estimates. It wanted clarification on the training costs, the role of NGOs in implementing the training and the number of jobs expected to be created during and after implementation.
The commission also sought clarification on whether solar panels would need to be installed at consumer premises under the grant agreement’s GD-2, Lot-3 package.