Renewable energy sources are thought of as environmental Scope for investments in renewable energy. Environmentally friendly due to their low or non-existent emissions of harmful gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, etc. In the near future, these resources will be crucial in power generation as they allow the consistent production of usable energy.
At present, only 15-20 per cent of the world’s energy is produced using various renewable energy sources, including hydropower, solar, ocean energy, biomass, biofuel, wind, and geothermal. On the other hand, the greater need for energy due to the rapidly expanding population is expected to increase.
Bangladesh is ranked as the 41st most desirable market1 overall by Global Climate Scope for investments in renewable energy. Experience is the area where the nation is most deprived. According to the renewable energy policy of Bangladesh, 10% of the total electricity2 has to be generated by renewable energy sources. At present, solar energy accounts for 63 per cent of the total renewable energy generated in the country, followed by hydropower at 36.4 per cent, and a small amount of biogas, biomass and wind energy.
However, Bangladesh’s capacity for renewable energy promises to have a bright future given its strong fundamentals and tremendous prospects. Additionally, there are promising investment opportunities, which is important. Considering the country’s current situation, individuals who made investments in its switch to renewable energy will be well-positioned to profit once the boom starts.
The only reliable renewable energy source that can be used on a wide basis is solar energy. With local and foreign investments being made in grid-connected utility-size solar parks and industrial rooftop projects, this anticipation is proving to be accurate. More than 1,000 MW of utility-scale solar parks and 500 MW of commercial/industrial rooftop solar PV projects under the net metering programme are on the horizon, according to the chairman of Sustainable And Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), a Bangladesh government agency under the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, responsible for increasing renewable energy production in Bangladesh.
The following are the barriers to Bangladesh using more renewable energy:
• Lack of available land: The acute lack of available land is the single biggest obstacle to the large-scale adoption of solar PV electricity4. It is because of two reasons: first, regulation completely prohibits the use of agricultural land for solar projects, and second, due to the extreme land fragmentation in Bangladesh, it is very challenging to obtain continuous land to build even a 50 MW solar park without infringing on agricultural land. As a result, rather than outright prohibiting it, a policy may be created that allows a specific percentage of agricultural land, say 25 per cent of the total land area, for a single solar park, up to a maximum of 200 acres per project.
If only one per cent of Bangladesh’s total agricultural land is used to build solar power facilities with a combined capacity of about 50,000 MW, the electricity generated from the same would be almost 82,000 GWh, which is greater than the total consumption in 2020 using the average capacity factor of 4.5 hours per day for Bangladesh. Moreover, the financial benefits will exceed five times when the cost of fuel saved is contrasted with the output of even three crops per acre of land. By avoiding spoilage brought on by a shortage of cold storage and other processing facilities, the agricultural yield lost by the one per cent of land can be readily made up.
• Limited wind potential: Experts agree that Bangladesh’s wind potential is limited, especially for onshore wind. The offshore potential is uncertain, despite unsubstantiated assertions of significant potential. Making a financial determination on this is difficult in the absence of comprehensive environmental and technical investment-grade studies on the potential for offshore wind.
• Lack of supply-side information: Another major obstacle to advancing the use of renewable energy in Bangladesh is a lack of supply-side information. For Bangladesh to fully appreciate the potential of renewable energy, there is a lack of resource potential and well-developed wind maps, site-specific ground data, technical specifications, and cost-effectiveness information. Additionally, there isn’t a single hub for information. The information is dispersed among government agencies, private businesses, and R&D institutions.
