Grameenphone Ltd. officially launched a Community Solar Power project at Paharpur village under Ajmirigonj Upazilla of Hobigonj district.

Local MP, Advocate Abdul Mozid Khan, Grameenphone CEO Tore Johnsen and Professor Kristin Braa of Oslo University, jointly inaugurated the project. Grameenphone's Chief Technology Officer, Tanvir Mohammad, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Mahmud Hossain, member of BERC, Md. Emdadul Haque, Deputy Director of BTRC, Md. Mesbahuzzaman, and representatives of local government were present on the occasion along with people from the locality.

Paharpur, the site of Grameenphone's first solar power base station is a remote village by the river Kusiara is populated mostly by poor farmers and share croppers. The village is not connected to the national electric grid. Under this project, solar power generation capacity to operate the base station has been expanded and 2 km radius transmission line has been constructed surrounding the base station. A total of 136 households have been connected to the mini grid and getting power from 5 pm to 12 am daily. The local Community Information Center is also connected to the grid and getting power during daytime to operate their PC, scanner and printer. There is also a charging booth connected to the grid for mobile phone battery charging.

Grameenphone and Oslo University have taken up this project to test the concept of using excess solar power of a mobile base station to provide electricity in the surrounding area. The project intends to test smart mini-grid for a single village or cluster of villages and look at the dynamics of the implementation and operation of these technologies. The project also intended to determine how to successfully implement and socially organize such power mini-grids to facilitate social and economic development in rural areas of Bangladesh, with a particular emphasis on establishing models that are replicable on a very large scale.

Grameenphone as a responsible corporate citizen always strive to help people to develop the life of general people through technology and other initiative.
 
Corporate Communications Department
Grameenphone Ltd.
Phone: 9882990