Renewable energy: Filling the void

A newspaper report on renewable energy has recently drawn the attention of many who are concerned and many more who are affected. The issue is significant as it concerns the errant power sector of the country, which despite many trials and tribulations, is yet to reach anywhere near the desired level of production. Notwithstanding the growing demand, production is falling way behind requirement. In such a situation, according to the report, renewable energy can meet a significant part of the growing demand.
While underlining the importance of renewable energy against power supply, it was stated in the report that the government is contemplating to amend  the policy on renewable energy to accommodate increased use of solar and wind power. The change is being actually made to encourage higher use of renewable energy through private entrepreneurs. Besides, amendments are also being made in relation to import of accessories for production of renewable energy and fixation of its price etc.   
Large solar and wind power plants can be set up only on government lands according to existing regulations. The door is now being opened for private entrepreneurs who will be allowed to set up plants at places of their choice to produce solar or wind power.   
According to sources, in view of existing restrictions on setting up plants on government land, the private sector is not able to expand properly. Besides, prices have not been fixed for solar and wind power to drive the issue forward.
Bangladesh's energy infrastructure is quite small, inadequate and ill-managed. The per capita energy consumption in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world. Non-commercial energy sources, such as wood fuel, animal waste, and crop residues are estimated to account for over half of the country's energy consumption.
Electricity is the major source of power for most of the country's economic activities. Installed electricity generation capacity was 10289 MW in January, 2014 - three-fourth of which is considered to be 'available'. Problems in the Bangladesh's electric power sector include corruption in administration, high system loss, delays in completion of new plants, low plant efficiencies, erratic supply, pilferage, blackouts, and shortages of funds for power plant maintenance. Overall, the country's generation plants have been unable to meet system demand over the past decade.
In the backdrop of a flawed power sector, renewable energy emerges as an ideal option. The current renewable energy comes from biogas, hydro power, solar power and wind.  
The period of bright sunshine in the coastal regions of Bangladesh varies from 3 to 11 hours a day. The insulation in Bangladesh varies from 3.8 kwh/m2/day to 6.4 kwh/m2/day at an average of 5 kwh/m2/day indicating that there are good prospects for solar thermal and photovoltaic application in the country.
With an estimated 40.0 per cent of the population in Bangladesh having no access to electricity, the government introduced a scheme known as solar home systems (SHS) to provide electricity to households with no grid access. The programmde reached three million households as of late 2014 and, with more than 50,000 systems being added per month since 2009, the World Bank has called it "the fastest growing solar home system programme in the world."
There is a vast potential for wind power as wind blows at an average speed between 3 to 4.5 m/s during the months of March to September and at 1.7 to 2.3 m/s for the remaining period of the year. Long-term wind flow, especially in the islands and the southern coastal belt of Bangladesh indicate that there is a good opportunity to use wind mills for pumping and electrification in island and coastal areas. But during the summer and monsoon seasons (March to October) there can be very low pressure areas and storm wind speeds 200 to 300 km/h can be expected. Wind turbines have to be strong enough to withstand these high wind speeds.  
In addition, Bangladesh has significant wave power, particularly during the period from late March to early October from waves generated in the Bay of Bengal. The wave durations, as recorded over the years, vary from 3 to 4 seconds for waves of about 0.5 metres and about 6 seconds for waves of about 2 metres.
Waste management as a source of electricity generation is another area that can be commercially explored. However, electricity generation from the solid wastes programme has been undertaken by the government.
Bangladesh has 15 MW of solar energy capacity for rural households and 1.9 MW wind power in Kutubdia and Feni. It has planned to produce 5.0 per cent of total power generation by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020 from renewable energy sources like air, solid waste and solar energy.
In generating and distributing electricity, failure to adequately manage the load leads to extensive load shedding which results in severe disruption in industrial production and other economic activities. A recent survey reveals that power outages result in a loss of industrial output worth $1 billion a year which reduces the GDP (gross domestic product) growth by about half a per cent in Bangladesh. A major hurdle in efficiently delivering power is caused by the inefficient distribution system. It is estimated that the total transmission and distribution losses amount to one-third of the total generation, the value of which is equal to US $247 million per year.
Considering the limited stock of fossil fuels and their negative impact on the environment, countries across the world are now leaning towards renewable energies like solar energy, wind energy, bio-energy, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy in their efforts to ensure energy security. Renewables 2014 Global Status Report reveals that renewable energy provided an estimated 19 per cent of global energy consumption in 2012 compared to 16.7 per cent in 2010. In view of its increasing success, more than hundred countries have formulated a renewable energy policy of one kind or the other.
In keeping with the global trend, Bangladesh has also attached due importance to development of renewable energy and as a result a steady growth is occurring in the sector. The government is gradually meeting part of the lighting and cooling requirement of public offices by installing solar panels. The national capacity of solar power currently exceeds 150 MW. Until recently, more than three million solar home systems (SHS) have been installed with aggregated capacity of about 135 MW. The international community has recognised Bangladesh's SHS as the fastest growing solar power dissemination programme in the world.
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