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The government in Dhaka hopes plans for the Spectra Solar Project, and the international backing for it, will help showcase the attractiveness of solar investment in the country for private sector money.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the governments of Germany and Canada are financing a 35 MW solar plant in Bangladesh.

The multilateral lender announced details of the investment package for the planned, $17.7 million Spectra Solar Power Project yesterday.

The ADB and the Canadian government-financed Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia II cash pot the lender administers will provide loans for the project. The Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) subsidiary of German state-owned development lender KfW Group will co-finance the solar project, according to the ADB, which issued a statement which did not reveal how much of the financing each party would provide.

The Spectra Solar Project is expected to generate 50 GWh of solar power annually for the grid. The Bangladeshi government – which recently bemoaned a lack of private sector investment in solar as one of the reasons for turning to Chinese funding for the nation’s clean energy infrastructure – will hope the Spectra project and the involvement of the ADB will attract further private sector cash.

“This project strongly demonstrates that the solar energy sector in Bangladesh is an attractive destination for private sector engagement,” said the ADB’s Shantanu Chakraborty, in the press release issued by the lender.

The Green Delta Capital subsidiary of Bangladeshi firm Green Delta Insurance Co acted as lead arranger for the project.

“ADB’s financing, with co-financing by DEG in this project, will help to scale up solar projects and unlock foreign investments for renewable energy in Bangladesh,” said Md Rafiqul Islam, CEO and managing director of Green Delta Capital.