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Bangladesh aims to significantly expand renewable energy sources in its total energy mix in its relentless pursuit of a net-zero carbon footprint.
As one of the key steps in this regard, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) has set a target of generating 5,000MW of onshore and offshore wind power by 2030.
Wind energy is power obtained from the force of wind using turbines. The country currently generates only 2.9MW of wind power.
According to Sreda officials, the huge target is being considered as an immediate option for the next few years in compliance with the government’s commitment to promoting renewable energy — given the fact that an American agency recently pegged the country’s wind power generation potential at 30,000MW.
The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a study — Assessing the Wind Energy Potential in Bangladesh: Enabling Wind Energy Development with Data Products — from June 2014 to December 2017. The USAID funded study concluded with the observation that “preliminary results demonstrate that, for wind speeds of 5.75–7.75 metre per second (m/s), there are more than 20,000 square kilometres of land with a gross wind potential of over 30,000 MW”.
About the wind power potentials, Sreda Chairman Mohammad Alauddin said the organisation will now conduct a detailed study on the basis of the NREL’s findings to get the bankable data “so that potential investors can invest in the sector and make their investment commercially viable”.
“A proposal on wind power’s potential will be placed before the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources to incorporate the target in the proposed Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) up to 2030, now being framed with the help of JICA,” he told UNB.
The NREL study said, “Although this estimate is not realistic, when proper filters are applied to screen out undesirable land for wind development, it suggests that Bangladesh’s 10 per cent renewable target by 2021 is achievable”.
“The preliminary technical potential analysis calculates gross potential and does not filter out already-developed land, environmentally sensitive land, or land unsuitable for other reasons,” it added.
The NREL study found the wind potentials at nine locations across the country, having an average wind speed of 5-6 metre per second at a height of over 60-80 metre above ground level (AGL) — Lalpur of Natore, Chandpur, Sitakunda and Parkay Beach in Chattogram, Gouripur in Mymensingh, Madhupur Tea Estate in Habiganj, Dakop in Khulna near Mongla port, Inani Beach in Cox’s Bazar, and Badarganj in Rangpur.
