Why cost-effective solar irrigation not gaining pace

Despite repeated attempts to popularise solar irrigation pumps that can save farmers diesel and help reduce reliance on grid-based electricity, Bangladesh so far made very poor progress with only 4,000 such pumps installed in the last 13 years.

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) that targeted to install close to 19,000 such pumps between 2011 and 2016 but failed to do so attributes this failure to lack of adequate bank guarantees and financial resources.

A 450-500 watt solar pump costs around Tk45,000. IDCOL bears 35% of the cost while the rest is borne with bank guarantee and by the farmers themselves.

The country uses 13 lakh diesel-based pumps for which around 4 lakh tonnes of diesel worth Tk25,600 crore is required annually, according to an ADB study.

But financial crises affecting all including IDCOL are hindering this transition to the environment-friendly and cost-effective irrigation solution.

The IDCOL has repeatedly revised its initial goals downwards over the years.

In December 2011, the IDCOL announced that it would install 18,750 solar irrigation pumps across the country by 2016.

In 2018, it once again set a target to install 50,000 solar pumps by 2025. However, realising the difficulty in achieving this target, the IDCOL revised it downward to 10,000 pumps by 2027.

Sensing that the 2027 target was also unattainable, the company later further revised it to convert 10,000 diesel pumps to solar by 2030.

The IDCOL, which in addition to the 35% loan, also provides a 50% grant for the installation of solar irrigation systems, has so far set up 1,523 such pumps, according to official documents.

Lack of adequate bank guarantees and funds availability

IDCOL Executive Director Alamgir Morshed told TBS that the company has not been able to achieve its targets due to lack of adequate bank guarantees and funds availability.

"Since we didn't receive the proper bank guarantee, we couldn't achieve the target. If someone wishes to adopt this technology, they must be provided with a 50% bank guarantee — we haven't received assurance of this, as expected. Additionally, due to the lack of available funds, we're unable to provide loan assistance and support in this regard, which has hindered the fulfilment of our objectives," he said.

Morshed also said, "A total of Tk600 crore is needed to convert all 13 lakh diesel-operated pumps to solar across the country. If funding can be obtained from international sources, including the 'Green Climate Fund,' it will be possible to achieve the objectives with even greater support."

In the updated Nationally Determined Contributions for 2021-30, Bangladesh plans to convert 5,925 pumps to solar ones under its own management, and 4,102 pumps, if it receives foreign funding and cooperation. In total, the plan was to install 10,027 solar irrigation pumps.

Experts say a lack of a clear government policy on the conversion of irrigation pumps to solar ones, along with skilled manpower, effective management, adequate budget, and policy support, is hindering the potential progress towards environmentally friendly and sustainable solar irrigation pump initiatives.

M Zakir Hossain Khan, a climate and renewable energy finance expert, told TBS, "Due to growing water scarcity, the irrigation cost has been increasing abruptly. In this context, to make irrigation cheaper as well as reduce dependency transition of 13 lakh diesel-based irrigation pumps to solar ones should be prioritised.  But, a just and subsidised transition should be ensured through meaningful strategy, which has yet to be formulated."

Moreover, innovative and subsidised climate finance should be mobilised to marginalised farmers for accessing the solar irrigation system, he added.

Energy expert Prof M Shamsul Alam, said, "Implementing solar-powered irrigation systems will require structured capacity for implementation. There needs to be an increase in government investment. This will make farmers more eager to adopt it."

During a discussion meeting on 11 March, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) said nearly 4,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps have been installed nationwide for irrigation purposes. Through these, approximately 65 megawatts of electricity are being generated, reducing pressure on the national grid, it said.

Diesel usage has decreased, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions, and agricultural production costs have also declined, said Sreda.

The IDCOL executive director said besides the company's installation of 1,523 solar pumps, other organisations have collectively installed around 2,500-2,600 more nationwide.

However, private operators, NGOs, and stakeholders also expressed some reservations about these statistics.

Dipal Barua, the chairman of Bright Green Energy Foundation, a non-governmental organisation which is working on solar irrigation projects in Kushtia and Dinajpur, told TBS, "So far, approximately 2,500-3,000 irrigation pumps have been installed across the country."

To procure a pump from IDCOL, one must fulfil at least 30 stringent conditions, with the toughest being a 100% bank guarantee, Barua said, adding, after adopting this technology, government institutions do not provide any assistance regarding technical or information technology aspects.

He said, "Most states in India provide subsidies ranging from 80% to 90% for solar irrigation facilities. This has led to a significant revolution, particularly at the grassroots level. In the past 10 years, farmers in India have installed over 3 lakh solar pumps."

The majority of these pumps are integrated with the grid, resulting in a substantial amount of gigawatts of electricity being generated solely from solar irrigation, Barua said.

Najmul Hasan, the owner of Rural Sun Power Company, told TBS that financial management is the main challenge in conversion of conventional pumps to solar ones.

"Over the past few years, Rural Sun Power has sold 50% of its solar pumps on credit. Sales have increased significantly as a result. However, due to customers' inability to regularly repay instalments, this opportunity has been discontinued."

No headway to utilising surplus electricity generated from solar irrigation pumps

In July 2020, the Sreda released a policy document titled "Grid Integration Guidelines for Solar Irrigation Pumps," outlining plans to utilise surplus electricity generated from solar irrigation pumps for government, industrial, and other sectors.

The directive aimed to procure electricity from solar irrigation plant operators during non-irrigation seasons. It also said pump operators would utilise local distribution grid lines to sell their surplus electricity, termed as "idle power," to the national grid.

However, due to the unavailability of cooperation from owners of solar irrigation pumps, private companies, and NGOs, and the inability to convert diesel-operated pumps to solar at a significant rate, the directive has somewhat fallen flat.

Therefore, the government is now considering forming a high-powered inter-ministerial committee, in coordination with relevant ministries and agencies, to address the issue.

The Bright Green Energy Foundation chairman said if the government wishes to divert surplus electricity from operators for other production purposes during the six months outside the irrigation season, there must be a viable business model in place, beneficial for both pump operators and farmers. "However, the current directive lacks such provision."

"During the off-season, electricity purchasing companies from us sometimes cannot pay even for one month, let alone for six months or any given year. As a result, operators are not very enthusiastic about producing electricity at their own expense because most of these operators do not have much capital, which they may need to sustain for a long time," he said.

If all diesel-operated irrigation pumps in the country were converted to solar power, it would be possible to generate 6,000 to 10,000 megawatts of electricity, Barua said.

"However, due to the lack of effective integration of Bangladesh's solar irrigation system with the grid, the efficiency of installed solar panels is decreasing by 50% to 60%."

The IDCOL executive director said, "The electricity purchasing aspect was a pilot project. Due to the impact of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, we couldn't make the expected progress in converting to solar irrigation pumps, which resulted in reduced electricity production from solar pumps."

He went on to say, "This matter is still in the form of a pilot project, and it cannot be said definitively that it has failed."

How solar pumps can be beneficial

In 2021, Mohammad Al Mamun, a businessman of Nachol upazila in Chapainawabganj, initiated an agricultural project on five acres of land, consisting of a three-acre mango orchard and a two-acre fish farm.

Despite prolonged efforts, Mamun could not secure a grid connection, which prompted him to explore alternative sources of power. After conducting research for some time, Mamun invested Tk3 lakh that year to establish a solar irrigation system.

"I used to spend approximately Tk700 daily to operate a diesel engine for 10 hours. That's why I opted for a solar system, which is now costing me much less," he told TBS.

Khademul Islam, a farmer of the district, said, "Compared to diesel-run irrigation pumps, the solar irrigation pump has reduced my expenses by more than half. Previously, irrigating the land cost me Tk4,000, but now it has come down to Tk1,500."

Conversion to solar pumps can save huge money

According to a roadmap regarding solar-powered irrigation pumps for the 2020-2035 period presented by the Asian Development Bank, if the country's 13 lakh pumps are converted to solar powered ones, the government could save around 4 lakh tonnes of diesel annually, equivalent to approximately Tk25,600 crore.

According to the roadmap, the conversion will decrease the number of pumps from 13 lakh to 4.25 lakh. Currently, the existing irrigation pumps emit 30 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. After the implementation of the roadmap, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions will reduce to 12 lakh tonnes per year.