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The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has set electricity purchase tariffs and open-access charges for privately owned commercial solar power plants, known as merchant power plants (MPPs), as part of efforts to accelerate renewable energy development, modern grid infrastructure and sustainable energy transition.
The commission announced the decision in a notice on Wednesday, September 30, saying the new integrated tariff structure would come into effect from October 2026.
The new framework sets solar power prices based on grid voltage levels and introduces an open-access tariff for third-party electricity supply through the national transmission and distribution network.
Under the arrangement, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will act as the sole wholesale buyer of electricity from merchant solar plants. The purchase price has been set at Tk6.98 per unit for plants connected at 33 kV and Tk7.11 per unit for those connected to the 132 kV high-voltage transmission network.
Under the Merchant Power Policy 2025, plant operators will be allowed to sell up to 20 per cent of their generated electricity to the government distribution system. They can supply the remaining 80 per cent directly to large industrial consumers at prices agreed under bilateral contracts.
However, power producers will have to pay open-access charges for using the national transmission and distribution infrastructure. The charges range from Tk1.22 to Tk1.9097 per unit, depending on the type of connection.
According to relevant sources, if a power plant and its customer are connected directly to the grid and to a distribution utility, the total charge will be Tk1.5989 per unit at 230 kV, Tk1.6025 at 132 kV and Tk1.6097 at 33 kV.
The transmission component of the charge is 37.89 poisha per unit at 230 kV, 38.25 poisha at 132 kV and 38.97 poisha at 33 kV.
In addition, the distribution charge at the consumer end has been set at Tk1.17 per unit, while an accounting and billing management fee of 5 poisha per unit will apply.
If the power plant and consumer are under different distribution utilities, an additional distribution charge of 30 poisha per unit will be imposed at the supply end.
For direct connections without transmission facilities under the same utility, the total charge will be Tk1.22 per unit.
The applicable Power Grid transmission loss based on the monthly average and the distribution loss of the latest fiscal year will also be adjusted in the electricity supply process.
BERC has also announced separate distribution charges for different utilities. The charges have been set at 70 poisha per unit for BPDB, Tk1.43 for the Rural Electrification Board (REB), 85 poisha for Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), 99 poisha for Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO), 87 poisha for West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDCL) and Tk1.04 for Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO).
BPDB will have overall responsibility for accounting management and billing settlement for electricity supplied by merchant power plants.
At a public hearing held on August 23, a technical evaluation committee had recommended a solar power tariff of Tk6.48 per unit.
BERC said it reviewed concerns raised at the hearing by distribution utilities over the potential financial risk of losing industrial customers during peak hours and by power developers over the possibility that higher access charges could discourage capital investment in renewable energy projects before finalising the tariff structure.
