Towards a Sustainable Energy Future: Multi-level Governance, Capacity Gaps, and Policy Innovations in Bangladesh

This chapter aims to critically scrutinize the institutional and governance processes that are shaping the renewable-energy transition of Bangladesh. It explores how authority, resources, and learning processes interact across national, sub-national, and local levels which are grounded in the concepts of multi-level governance, institutional capacity, and policy innovation. The study adopted a qualitative, multi-case methodology that includes document analysis, key informant interviews (KIIs) with officials from Power Division, SREDA, IDCOL, MoEFCC, BRAC, and local government representatives and comparable evidence from India, Nepal, and Vietnam. The findings reveal persistent coordination gaps, overlapping mandates and centralized decision-making that constrain policy execution and create governance deficit in Bangladesh’s renewable energy transition. Furthermore, capacity gaps especially in technical skills, data governance, and institutional continuity along with excessive reliance on donors make the system less coherent. As a result, while the Renewable Energy Policy 2008 targeted that by 2020, 10% of the country’s energy should come from renewable sources, as of October 2025, only 4.9% of Bangladesh’s energy comes from renewable sources. However, Non-State Actors (NSAs) such as IDCOL, BRAC, Grameen Shakti, Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd. and many other organizations are contributing substantially in closing gaps in institutions and finances and coming up with new ways for people to get electricity. The chapter argues that effective renewable energy transition requires empowered institutions, decentralized governance, integrated data networks, and adaptive and flexible learning mechanisms to sustain long-term transformation. The chapter ends with policy recommendations that focus on institutional change, local empowerment and inclusive innovation to accelerate sustainable renewable energy transition of Bangladesh.