Maiden wind power project in private sector
The federal government yesterday approved a proposal to create a 55-megawatt wind power plant in Bagerhat, a move that can provide a much-needed fillip to its efforts to tap the country's unrealised renewable energy potential.
The cabinet committee on purchase gave its consent to the proposal from a Chinese-Bangladeshi consortium to create the plant on a build-own-operate basis under a contract with the Bangladesh Electricity Development Board (BPDB).
Regulation Minister Anisul Haq chaired the assembly.
The consortium of Envision Energy (Jiangsu) of China, SQ Trading and Engineering of Bangladesh, and Envision Renewable Strength of Hong Kong will establish the plant.
The BPDB will buy electricity from the plant at a tariff of $13.20 cents, or Tk 10.56 per kilowatt-hour unit for 20 years, Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, extra secretary of the cabinet division, told reporters following the cabinet meeting. The consortium was the lone bidder for the task, said a BPDB recognized, news firm UNB reported.
Bangladesh is yet to considerably exploit its potential found in wind power even though studies have discovered that the united states could generate a handsome amount of power from the clean way to obtain energy.
Three wind generators with a merged capacity of 3MW have been around in operation for the last few years in Feni and the coastal Kutubdia, in line with the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda).
The Installed capacity for renewable energy stands at 650.53 MW with solar energy accounting for 416MW and hydropower 230MW.
Bangladesh's southern coastal belt gives potential for generating vitality through wind, according to a report by the US Section of Energy's National Renewable Strength Laboratory.
The study, completed on behalf of the power division, discovered that coastal regions of Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram divisions have significantly more than 6 metres per second (m/s) wind speed at 120-metre elevation, which is satisfactory for generating electricity.
For wind speeds of 5.75-7.75 m/s, there are more than 20,000 square kilometres of terrain with a gross wind potential of more than 30,000MW, the study said.
The BPDB signed a contract in March 2015 to award a 60MW wind power project to US-DK Green Strength (BD), a joint venture of Taylor Engineering Band of the US, PH Consulting Band of Denmark and Multiplex Green Strength of Bangladesh, to set up the plant at Kurushkul in Cox's Bazar.
But the sponsor didn't implement the project within the last five years, according to UNB.
The state-run Rural UTILITY COMPANY is working to create a 10MW plant in Kalapara of Patuakhali. The plant is planned to begin electricity technology on December 31, 2022, based on the Sreda website.
