Current status of running renewable energy in Bangladesh and future prospect: A global comparison

World's fossil fuels are disappearing rapidly due to multidimensional uses, mainly for electricity generation. Nevertheless, Bangladesh has also a very limited source of natural gas and coal for electricity production. Hence, the major goal of this review is to outlines the present status of installed renewable generations in the country and predict the future prospect. Despite the existence of literature's abundance on Bangladesh's potential for renewable energy (RE), and their prospects, nothing is covered about the phases of renewable energy projects like projects already completed and running, projects implementation ongoing, and projects under planning. Therefore, an endeavor has been made for the first time to expose Bangladesh's three phases of renewable energy, including projects that are currently operational, those that are still being implemented, and projects that are still in the planning stages. Data was collected from Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), International Hydropower Association (IHA), Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MODMR), and Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MOPMER). Based on these data, this research suggests that Bangladesh is generating 723.26 Megawatt (MW) electricity from renewable sources including 67.61% from solar, 31.80% from hydro, 0.58% from others including wind, biogas and biomass, where 489 MW electricity makes from over 6 million (63, 25, 278) of installed solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems till mid of April 2021 and a total of 6,408,721 numbers of RE plants are completed and running. Bangladesh is a prospective area for harvesting solar, wind, and bioenergy with limited hydropower, despite the fact that over 42% of rural societies still lack access to electricity. This review will help investors, shareholders, researchers and decision makers of both public and private sector to realize the latest renewable energy situation of Bangladesh, and for future planning and management in a sustainable way.