The government is planning to establish rooftop solar parks in factories and warehouses under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), with the aim to boost solar energy production, and bolster the country’s economy.
As part of this initiative, the BJMC – under the Ministry of Textiles and Jute – issued Terms of Reference (TOR) titled “Factory and Godown Building Roof Top” on June 12 this year. Deadline for submission of proposals is July 25.
BJMC documents, of which The Business Post has obtained copies, mentions that the lease tenure will be valid for 20 years, and may be extended on the basis of satisfactory performance.
Providing more details, BJMC Chairman Anis Mahmud said, “We opted for TOR (Terms of Reference) issuance instead of an open tender to attract strong proposals, and enable the selection of most qualified candidates.
“Submission of proposals does not require any financial commitment.”
The government has decided to set up solar parks in the Jute Mills of BJMC, using the rooftops of factories and warehouses of Jute mills to produce sustainable electricity. These solar parks will produce electricity and provide supply to the national grid, he added.
All mills under the BJMC had halted operations from July 1, 2020, following a government directive.
Leveraging the authority vested in Section II of the Industrial Enterprise Nationalization Act 2018, the government now plans to revive these mills through private management, initially via lease or rental agreements.
The lease will be granted to the bidder with the highest combined score, which results from equally weighing the technical and financial proposals of all eligible bidders.
The BJMC chairman said, “At this point, we cannot determine the exact contribution of electricity to the national grid or predict the production timeline. Once we receive proposals, we will assess them and determine our subsequent actions accordingly.
“The city corporations will be responsible for determining the fate of the other closed jute mills, including Latif Bawany Jute Mills Ltd and Kaim Jute Mills Ltd. Discussions regarding these mills are currently going on.”
Discussing arrangements for the rooftop solar park initiative, Anis said, “The grace period for resource mobilisation will extend for 12 months. After this period, the monthly rent will become payable, starting from the 13th month following the handover of rooftops to the lessees.
“The lease will have a 20-year term, commencing after the conclusion of the grace period. Additionally, the lessee will be accountable for all utility expenses incurred during the operation of the solar park.”
The 11 BJMC mills and leasehold areas are – 612,275 sq ft of Latif Bawany Jute Mills Ltd in Demra; 413,838 sq ft of Kaim Jute Mills Ltd in Demra; 698,557 sq ft of UMC Jute Mills Ltd in Narsingdi; 290,589 sq ft of Rajshahi Jute Mills, Shyampur; 429,970 sq ft of Hafiz Jute Mills Ltd in Sitakunda; 295,683 sq ft of Gul Ahmed Jute Mills Ltd in Chattogram; 698,820 sq ft of Amin Jute Mills Ltd in Chattogram; 98,973 sq ft of Galfra Habib Ltd in Sitakunda; 879,599 sq ft of the Crescent Jute Mills Co Ltd in Khulna; 1,004,937 sq ft of Khalishpur Jute Mills Ltd in Khulna; and 485,272 sq ft of Star Jute Mills Ltd in Khulna.
‘Initiative may be unrealistic’
Speaking to The Business Post, Director of Energypac Power Generation Ltd Engineer Md Nurul Aktar said, “The decision to build solar parks on rooftops of closed jute mills may be unrealistic. The initiative can be fruitful only if the jute mills are run.
“The mills were set up many years ago, and the infrastructure may be weak. We have to assess whether we can utilise the rooftops for this purpose, as the mills are around 50 years old. We need a feasible study. Security is also an important issue.”
Nurul, also the CEO of Energypac Electronics Ltd, said investments will not work if the government does not take guarantee. Jute mills should be run to utilise the benefit of solar parks.
According to renewable energy expert Md Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, around 70,000 square feet of space is needed to set up a 1MW solar rooftop facility.
Current status of jute mills
There are currently 26 mills in Bangladesh. Among those, 23 are jute mills and 3 are non-jute mills. There are seven mills in the Dhaka region, ten under Chattogram region and nine under Khulna region. The total workforce in BJMC and its mills is approximately 75,000.
The BJMC earns around Tk 1,500 crore annually through sale of jute goods overseas.
The corporation was established in 1972 with the goal to control, supervise and coordinate the activities of nationalized jute mills.
By December 1979, BJMC had 77 jute mills, two carpet backing mills, and two spare parts producing units. In 1980, six twine mills were disinvested to the private sector.
In June 1981, BJMC had 74 mills under its administration. These mills had about 165,000 workers and 27,000 managerial and office staff.
However, the government announced closure of 25 state-owned jute mills under BJMC on 1 July, 2020.
