SECOND RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT LIGHTING UP RURAL COMMUNITIES APPROVAL DATE: END DATE: TOTAL COMMITMENT: IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: BASIC INFORMATION September 20, 2012 December 31 $716.60 million Infrastructure Development Company Additional Financing 2021 Limited (IDCOL) and Power Cell approved on June 19, 2014, Additional Financing II approved on April 10, 2018 OVERVIEW Life used to come to a near standstill after sunset for the great majority of Bangladeshis living in the countryside. About two-thirds of rural households have access to grid electricity, and they often suffer from power cuts due to lack of supply and network congestions. The Second Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project (RERED II) helped increase access to clean and renewable energy in rural Bangladesh. 36 CHALLENGE TOWARDS THE FUTURE At present, against a peak summer demand of 15,527 (MW) in FY 2019 electricity, supply is lower Introduction of LED technologies in the SHS has enabled than required. The urban areas with large industrial loads are prioritized for power supply, smaller-capacity and lower-cost systems to support the leaving rural areas with a disproportionate share of power cuts. The dispersed nature of rural same energy needs that earlier required a larger capacity settlements and the numerous rivers that crisscross the country make grid electrification in many and higher cost systems. The smaller systems are now areas of Bangladesh both difficult and expensive. Although the government is making progress becoming affordable to the poorer rural population. Other to address the power generation shortage, but reliance on grid electricity alone will not allow the interventions are replicating the SHS implementation Bangladesh government to realize its vision of universal access to electricity by 2021. model to increase access to electricity through renewable energy sources. The improved cookstove program has funding from the Green Climate Fund for its Phase 2, with a target of reaching APPROACH 5 million end users. The RERED II project supports renewable energy options, including solar home systems (SHS) in remote rural areas where grid electricity is not yet economically viable. With a SHS, a household can operate 3-4 lights and a television for at least four hours a day. Millions of rural people are benefiting from electricity from SHS who were otherwise dependent on expensive kerosene lamps which pollutes indoor air. The project has helped more than 5.4 million rural households and shops access electricity through solar home systems. A total of 58 non-government organizations (NGOs) called partner organizations are installing the various renewable energy products through micro-credit schemes. The partner organizations procure and install the systems in rural households as per technical standards set by the implementing agency, IDCOL. The project is piloting solar mini-grids in remote areas including chars and islands, solar irrigation pumps as well as improved cook stoves that uses half the amount of firewood needed by traditional stoves and and biogas digesters. RESULTS IN NUMBERS 6.84 million remote Over 60 percent Contributed to 14.4 20 solar mini-grids 867 solar irrigation 1.65 million households and rural of the beneficiaries percent increase in installed providing pumps installed, improved shops have access to are women access to electricity in electricity to 3,000 shops, benefitting 300,000 cookstoves sold renewable energy the country businesses, households farmers across the country THE WORLD BANK IN BANGLADESH | 37