At first sight, Lien Tannery or Ayub Brother’s tannery may look like just another tannery among many others in the Hazaribagh area of the capital. However a visit to their rooftop will change that notion.
An arrangement of about 30-35 solar panels are sitting there, used in producing the energy to heat the water reservoir of these tanneries. Resulting in around 5,000 cubic metre of precious natural gas saved every year.
Thanks to United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for successfully using solar power as an alternative energy source of gas in the small and medium industry sectors of the country for the first time.
Saving precious natural gas Dr Himangshu Ronjon Ghosh, UNIDO national expert confirmed that the tubular type solar water heaters were installed and commissioned at the above mentioned tanneries under a UNIDO project titled "Project for improvement of tannery sectors in Bangladesh."
There are around twenty-five small, twenty medium and six large tanneries in Hazaribagh area which consume about 150,000 cubic metre of natural gas on a yearly basis to heat the water needed for the dyeing section of the tanneries, Dr Ghosh said.
“There are two types of gas price ratings in tannery areas. Gas price is Tk6.4 per cubic metre for small tanneries and Tk11.36 for the large commercial tanneries. Under the UNIDO project, we calculated that if the solar water heating system is being successfully installed, there is a scope of Tk0.8 reduction per square metre leather production," he said. “Not to mention the saving of the natural gas.”
An economical and environmental choice Dr Ghosh said that the solar water heating system is very economical as well. “Cost of a 1000 litre system is around Tk175,000 including the installation, plumbing and commissioning charges,” he said.
“Once the system is installed, there is no other cost. The payback period is on average six and a half years. As the lifetime of the solar panel is 20 years, there is virtually no maintenance cost as well,” he said.
He said that there are many environmental benefits to it as well. “The amount of carbon dioxide produced is nil which ensures a better environment for the surroundings. Also, there is no noise pollution in the tanneries,” said the doctor.
Plan for central water system in Savar Engr Shahidul Haq, the project director said, they are mulling to design a central solar water heating system for the planned tannery relocation in Savar. “It will reduce investment costs and also reduce operational costs,” says Haq.
He explained that at Savar almost all the tanneries would have their infrastructure built which would be suitable for the solar water heating system setup.
“Also the potential of carbon dioxide mitigation is 1500 tonnes per year,” he added.
Welcoming this UNIDO project, Shaheen Ahmed, ex-chairman and chief adviser of Bangladesh Tannery Association (BTA) said, this will definitely benefit the leather industry.
“As the cost ratio analysis of the project has shown that it will be lucrative for the tannery owners in the long run, they should go for it. Moreover it will reduce a little bit of pressure on the burgeoning gas demand,” he explained. “Also it is always good to use clean and green energy in the industry sector,” concluded the chief adviser.
