Bangladesh firms receive UN award for solar power trade network

A UN-linked fund granted 1 million U.S. dollars to two Bangladeshi companies in recognition of their novel project to allow villagers more access to solar power and entrepreneurship, reports Xinhua News Agency.

Grameen Shakti and ME SOLshare built a platform on which household solar system users can trade solar power with non-users, which enables rural Bengali villagers to become entrepreneurs.

The UN-DESA Energy Grant which granted the money is a capacity building initiative launched and managed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in collaboration with the China Energy Fund Committee, a Hong Kong-based non-governmental organization.

The project's bottom-up mini grids have transformed household solar system into a way to generate profits, a model that can be applied to areas without a power grid throughout Bangladesh and the rest of the world.

It is estimated that they can establish a minimum of 100 smart grids with the grant money, benefiting at least 15,000 people, and its impact will be greater, since it is likely to inspire more such initiatives.

"We believe this award underlines the transformation the global energy sector is undergoing to a decentralized, decarbonized, democratized and digitalized one, where Bangladesh, through the great efforts taken by the Bangladesh Government through the Infrastructure Development Company Limited, has already set a great example," the winners said in a statement.

"Energy is the golden thread that connects all the Sustainable Development Goals," UN Deputy-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in a written statement read out on her behalf during the ceremony.