Assessment of renewable energy resources potential for electricity generation in Bangladesh

Renewable energy encompasses a broad range of energy resources. Bangladesh is known to have a good potential for renewable energy, but so far no systematic study has been done to quantify this potential for power generation. This paper estimates the potential of renewable energy resources for power generation in Bangladesh from the viewpoint of different promising available technologies. Estimation of the potential of solar energy in Bangladesh is done using a GIS-based GeoSpatial Toolkit (GsT), Hybrid System Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) model and NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE) solar radiation data. The potential of wind energy is estimated by developing a Bangladesh wind map using NASA SSE wind data and HOMER model. A review of country's biomass and hydro potential for electricity generation is presented. The technical potential of gird-connected solar PV is estimated at 50,174 MW. Assuming that 1000 h per year of full power is the feasible threshold for the exploitation of wind energy, the areas that satisfy this condition in the country would be sufficient for the installation of 4614 MW of wind power. The potential of biomass-based and small hydro power plants is estimated at 566 and 125 MW, respectively. The renewable energy resources cannot serve as alternative to conventional energy resources, yet they may serve to supplement the long-term energy needs of Bangladesh to a significant level. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.