Country has potential to generate 350mw more low-cost hydropower

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M Azizur Rahman
The country has potentials to generate more than 350 megawatts of low-cost hydropower by setting up new plants, especially in the southern region, officials said Monday.
Of the total, 250mw hydroelectricity could be generated by building power plants on the banks of the rivers Sangu, Matamuhuri and Mohamaya and the remaining 100mw by setting up two units at the Karnafuli hydro-power station at Kaptai, a senior official of the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) told the FE.
New power plants could be built on the banks of the rivers Sangu, Matamuhuri and Mohamaya to generate 100mw, 100mw and 50mw electricity respectively, he added.
Two units could be built at the Karnafuli hydro-power station at Kaptai having the capacity of 50 mw each.
The PDB recently conducted a study on the country's hydropower potentials and found few more sites where several micro hydropower plants could be built to generate 10 kilowatts-50 kilowatts of electricity.
Of the prospective hydropower plants, the 100-mw plant at the Karnafuli hydro-power station was found viable in a feasibility study conducted by the Tokyo Electric Power Services Company (TEPSCO).
It would cost around Tk 10 billion to build the two new units at Kaptai in Chittagong, said the PDB official.
"Building new units at Kaptai require a decision from the government high-ups," Power Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad said.
"Any new hydropower plant units at Kaptai could displace thousands of people from the project site as water could submerge the surrounding areas as its outcome," said PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir.
Besides, the Kaptai dam does not have enough water to run all the power plant units at a time, he said.
Currently two units out of the five are inoperative.
Around 140 mw of electricity is now being generated from the Kaptai hydropower project.
Pointing to the country's hydropower prospects, the PDB chairman said displacement of people from the project sites would pose a major challenge, if the government went ahead with the plans.
Hydropower is the cheapest of all sources of electricity.
It costs around Tk 0.12 per unit (1,000 kilowatt per hour) to generate electricity from the Kaptai hydropower project whereas generating electricity in a gas-fired power plant costs around Tk 2.0 per unit.