Prospect of decentralized hybrid power generation in Bangladesh using biomass, solar PV & wind

Abstract

Limited fossil fuels will soon not be enough to meet up the energy-shortage in Bangladesh and therefore enhanced attention must be given to utilize renewable energy sources. Solar and wind are two prominent renewable energy sources in Bangladesh. We propose an optimum decentralized solar PV-wind-biomass-fossil fuel based hybrid power system to meet up the energy-demand of a typical community in an environment-friendly way. The potential of the decentralized hybrid system in Bangladesh is estimated utilizing Geospatial toolkit, NASA SSE solar radiation data and HOMER optimization software. Financial viability of the system for Bangladesh is also assessed utilizing a proposed decentralized hybrid system using HOMER for Rangpur which has unique high solar (4.75 kWh/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> /day) and high wind (over 2m/s wind-speed throughout the year with 250W/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> power density) supply in Bangladesh. The annual electricity generation of the proposed system is almost 21.55 MWh and its cost of energy is less in Rangpur (minimum 0.246 $/kWh) relative to other areas due to its rich green energy resources. The proposed system, simulated for four different fuel-combinations, is most cost-effective but most detrimental to environment if the generator is run with natural gas. On the other hand, Co-firing with biomass results in doubling the cost but reduces pollutant-generation to almost 50%.