Why H&M is helping Bangladesh build its first offshore wind farm

The electrical grid in Bangladesh runs nearly completely on fossil fuels. However a big new wind farm deliberate off the coast will assist velocity up the nation’s transition to renewable power. One of many unlikely backers of the challenge: Swedish clothes large H&M.

H&M and Bestseller, a Danish clothes model with greater than 2,700 retail shops, are the primary buyers within the 500-megawatt wind farm. 5 to 10 different trend manufacturers with manufacturing in Bangladesh may additionally be part of.

“We actually noticed an enormous potential to leverage massive world trend manufacturers’ funding in a challenge that can contribute to the infrastructure of that nation,” says Holly Syrett, VP of impression packages and sustainability at World Trend Agenda, a nonprofit targeted on serving to the style business enhance social and environmental impression. The group spent a 12 months and a half engaged on a collective motion program for attire corporations that might assist add new renewable power at a big scale.

Bangladesh is a hub for clothes manufacturing, with 1000’s of factories. It isn’t easy for these suppliers to transition to renewable power. “In Bangladesh, we see an absence of fundamental infrastructure for enabling electrification, and Bangladesh is closely depending on pure gasoline,” says Ulrika Leverenz, head of inexperienced funding at H&M Group. “We additionally see that the present legislative framework is just not supportive sufficient of the transition in direction of electrification.” The nation’s present legislation doesn’t permit corporations to make use of energy buy agreements, for instance, a mannequin that H&M and its counterparts use in different places to assist construct new wind and photo voltaic tasks.

H&M arrange a collective green loan program for suppliers final 12 months, and is serving to a few of its suppliers in Bangladesh add photo voltaic panels and enhance power effectivity. “Suppliers want each monetary and technical help to scale back the emissions within the tempo required for trend manufacturers to attain their science-based targets,” Leverenz says. Nonetheless, the corporate knew that options at particular person factories alone wouldn’t be sufficient to fulfill its purpose of sourcing 100% renewable electrical energy in its provide chain by the tip of the last decade.

At 500 megawatts (roughly the quantity of energy utilized by 90,000 homes yearly within the U.S.), the brand new wind challenge received’t have the ability to cowl the wants of Bangladesh’s garment business by itself; 5 to 6 instances extra energy era will probably be wanted. However it should make a distinction for the grid—chopping emissions by 725,000 metric tons per 12 months—and the mannequin could be replicated with different clear power tasks, Syrett says. The identical strategy might be utilized in different nations with massive attire manufacturing industries, like Vietnam.

The brand new wind farm in Bangladesh may start operations by 2028. Copenhagen Infrastructure Companions, a Danish funding agency that focuses on wind energy tasks, is now engaged on early-stage improvement. Within the meantime, World Trend Agenda and firms like H&M are pushing for coverage adjustments in Bangladesh to assist speed up different clear power tasks.