Using such low-lying land combined with fisheries is one such innovative solution. There are over 2.83 million hectares of low-lying land in Bangladesh (roughly 20 percent of the total area of the country). Since land is very expensive in Bangladesh, dual use of land can make many solar projects viable. Optimal dual usage of land and Floating Solar Farms ('floatovoltaics') SOURCE: FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS The lost agricultural output of the one percent land can be easily made up by preventing spoilage that occurs due to the lack of cold storages and other processing facilities.įigure 3: Cost of electricity for different technologies and fuels. If the cost of fuel saved is compared with the output of even three-cropped land, the financial benefits will be more than five times. Using the average capacity factor of 4.5 hours per day for Bangladesh, the electricity output from the one percent agricultural land is approximately 82,000 GWh, which is more than the total consumption in the year 2020. The use of only one percent of the total agricultural land of Bangladesh can facilitate the construction of approximately 50,000 MW of solar power plants. Thus, instead of a total ban, a policy could be formulated that permits a certain amount of agricultural land say 25 percent of the land of a single solar park, to a maximum of 200 acres per project. In Bangladesh, land is very fragmented, and it is very difficult to find contiguous land to construct even a 50 MW solar park without encroaching onto agricultural land. The problem is more connected with the policy-total ban on use of agricultural land for solar projects-than land availability. ![]() The single biggest barrier to the large-scale deployment of solar PV electricity is the acute shortage of land. The future of RE in Bangladesh also does not look very bright, unless the government takes steps to explore new and innovative ways of harnessing RE. It is clear that Bangladesh is struggling to increase the share of RE in its energy mix. As expected, RE in Bangladesh is dominated by solar with other sources being very small in comparison. It is worth pointing out that, as a result of the extension of rural electrification through the expansion of the grid, a large portion of the Solar PV Home Systems that brought so much fame to Bangladesh is lying idle. A large portion of the claimed 543 MW solar power is off-grid solar, grid-tied solar parks only contributes 196 MW. ![]() The complete picture of RE deployment can be seen from Figure 2, which shows both on-grid and off-grid RE applications. RE consists of only 2.08 percent of the total installed capacity connected to the grid half of that, i.e., 1.04 percent is hydropower, which has remained static in generation since 1967. PHOTO: COLLECTEDĪccording to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), as of January 2022, Bangladesh had 22,066 MW of grid-connected installed capacity, the fuel wise breakdown of which is shown in Figure 1. Solar energy is the single most dependable RE resource that can be resourced on a large scale. In financial terms, it is difficult to comment on this in the absence of comprehensive environmental and technical investment grade studies on offshore wind potential. The offshore potential is unknown, even though one does hear of unsubstantiated claims of huge potential. A group of experts believe that the wind potential in Bangladesh, especially onshore, is limited. Wind has always been a problematic resource to evaluate in the context of Bangladesh. In the case of Bangladesh, the principal barriers with biomass are the price is high and collecting large quantities is difficult, hence expensive. However, through the bio-gasification route, there exists significant potential, but that would require careful planning and management of the bioresources. Moreover, extracting too much organic matter in an unsustainable manner can lead to soil degradation. With regards to biomass, the principal problem is the high demand of agricultural and animal wastes for cooking in rural areas. ![]() It thus leaves solar, wind and biomass as the only current options. Tidal is a new form of energy source that is yet to achieve commercialisation. ![]() For example, Bangladesh does not have geothermal potential and its hydro potential, especially that based on elevation, is small. The endowment of these resources will determine how much of each form of renewable energy source can be exploited in a country. Renewable energy (RE) comprises of energy from the sun (directly), usually called solar, biomass, wind, tidal, geothermal and hydro.
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