Bangladesh receives a clean energy loan from the World Bank

Bangladesh will receive a 100 million dollar loan from the World Bank to fund clean energy activities. Most of the money will be spent on the government's solar energy programs, the remainder of the loan money will be used to purchase CFL light bulbs.

From Reuters, we read more details about the program.

The government plans to finance installation of 1.0 million solar panels over the next couple of years and will distribute about 27.5 million low-wattage CFL bulbs across the country.

"It is a massive programme for the government and will not be possible to implement without financial support from our development partners like the World Bank," said the official at the economic relations division of the finance ministry.

The state-run Rural Electrification Board and Infrastructure Development Company Limited are jointly implementing the government's renewable energy development programme.

The World Bank will provide the fund by the end of May, the official said, adding use of solar energy in Bangladesh had been rising annually by more than 50 percent since 2004.