BIDA, DESCO ink deal for rooftop solar at Agargaon

Business Report :

The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) Limited have entered into an agreement to set up a 150-kilowatt peak rooftop solar power system at BIDA’s headquarters in Agargaon.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday at the Investment Building’s conference room, with BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun presiding over the ceremony. Brig Gen (retd) Shamim Ahmed attended as the special guest, while BIDA Director Md Maruful Alam and DESCO Company Secretary Engineer Mohammad Kamruzzaman signed the document on behalf of their respective organisations, says a press release.

Under the deal, DESCO will be responsible for installing, operating, and maintaining the solar system across 9,105 square feet of rooftop space. The 20-year project comes with an estimated installation cost of Tk 8.9 million and an additional Tk 8.7 million for maintenance and replacements over its lifetime.

The system is projected to generate around 2.85 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the next two decades, worth nearly Tk 29.9 million.

DESCO will utilize 90 per cent of the generated power, while BIDA will receive the remaining 10 per cent. Any carbon credits earned will be divided equally between the two organisations.
The project timeline begins with a tender announcement on 1 October 2025, followed by the commencement of commercial generation on 31 January 2026. This initiative directly supports the government’s renewable energy roadmap, which targets 20 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 30 per cent by 2040.

Speaking at the event, BIDA Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury highlighted that the collaboration sets an example of how government agencies can lead the way in adopting renewable energy, providing a model for replication across the country.

The agreement also aligns with the National Rooftop Solar Programme, launched in July 2025 by Bangladesh’s interim government, which aims to deploy solar systems in government institutions, schools, and hospitals to deliver 3,000 megawatts of power by December 2025. This broader initiative provides the policy backdrop for the BIDA-DESCO project, marking an important step toward achieving the nation’s clean energy goals.