The Power Division has decided to conduct mapping of wind resources in eight places of the country next month with a view to assess the possibility of power generation.
The mapping would be conducted in coastal zones, onshore and inland areas: Inani Beach of Cox’s Bazar, Sitakunda and Anwara of Chittagong, Khepupara of Patuakhali, Morelgong of Bagerhat, Chandpur and Rajshahi.
“If there is potentiality, the interested investors can take up projects on the basis of data gathered from the mapping,” Project Director Md Bazlur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune Sunday.
“The project will be implemented with the financial assistance of the USAID. The estimated cost of the project is Tk119m,” said the official, who is also a deputy secretary of the Power Division.
The physical work of the project will begin after a team of the USAID visits Dhaka in mid-October. German-based Centre for International Migration and Development and US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will conduct the mapping.
The project period was set earlier between November last year and October next year.
Under the project, wind velocity in the proposed spots will be assessed. According to a source in the Power Division, Bangladesh’s average wind velocity per second is 4.5 metres and it varies with locations and heights.
The Power Development Board (PDB) had installed wind mills in Kutubdia and Feni aiming to generate 1MW.
But the projects failed as the Kutubdia 1 megawatt (20kw capacity having 50 turbines) was hit hard by cyclone Aila while the other having a capacity of 225kw (having four turbines) had to be shut because of inappropriate wind mapping.
Power Division officials say around 50-200MW of electricity could be generated from wind power in different coastal and inland sites.
Bangladesh now produces about 112MW of electricity from renewable energy resources, said another official.
Siddique Zobair, senior adviser for Sustainable Energy Development Programme of the Power Division, said prospect of wind power was bright in Bangladesh. The mapping studies above 50 metres would give the actual data for this primary energy.
He said the wind speed varies for different locations and heights. Usually, wind blows more in the coastal zones than at the offshore in the Bay.