2023-06-30 15:03:46
The only floating solar power plant in Bangladesh, in the Chapainawabganj region / Image: Joules Power.
Floating solar is one of the popular solutions in Bangladesh, a country facing challenges of population density and land availability. Researchers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology have conducted extensive studies on 7 lakes across the country, revealing promising potential. The results show that floating solar installations would offer significant power and meet a significant share of the energy needs of cities, all at a particularly low cost.
Committed to the energy transition, Bangladesh considers solar energy as a key sector to achieve its objectives. However, despite the ambition displayed by the government in terms of developing this source of clean energy, the country is struggling to achieve its aspirations. Indeed, in 2020, solar energy represented only a modest share of 3% in national electricity production, far from the ambitious objective set at 10%. almost complete, its first nuclear power plant should be commissioned at the end of 2023.
One of the reasons that hinders the deployment of solar is the scarcity of land available for the installation of the necessary infrastructure. With a population density of 1,301 people per km² in 2021, Bangladesh ranks 9th in the world, which significantly limits the areas suitable for solar projects. Rural areas, on the other hand, are mainly occupied by agricultural land.
Faced with this challenge, an emerging solution could open up new perspectives: floating solar. To date, Bangladesh has only one operational floating solar power plant, which was recently commissioned. However, a study by researchers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology simulated the installation of new floating power plants across the country. Their objective was to assess the true potential of floating solar in Bangladesh.
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Promising results
The researchers undertook extensive studies of 7 lakes spread across Bangladesh, three of which are in the capital, Dhaka. As part of their analyses, they considered the possibility of covering up to 25% of the surface of each lake with floating solar panels. The results of these calculations revealed that the floating installations could be more powerful than their counterparts on the ground.
Reviewing the proposals for the capital, the researchers found that these facilities could supply around 1.1% of the city’s energy needs. In addition, the other sites studied could satisfy up to 7% of the demand for Chattogram, the country’s port city. The production capacity of onshore solar installations has been assessed between 4 kWh/m² and 6.5 kWh/m², while floating solar power plants could reach up to 8 kWh/m². These figures underline the potential superiority of floating installations in terms of energy efficiency.
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Among the simulations carried out, one of the plants would have a capacity of 34.3 MW, while the least powerful would reach 5.1 MW. These figures testify to the considerable potential of floating solar installations to meet the growing energy demand in the country. Furthermore, the average cost of floating solar power in Bangladesh appears to be relatively low, varying between €32 and €45/MWh. By way of comparison, the average cost of utility-scale solar is generally between €21 and €86/MWh and that of new nuclear between €40 and €70/MWh.
These encouraging results confirm that floating solar has real potential to support Bangladesh’s energy transition. Floating facilities could not only overcome the constraints related to the lack of land space, but they could also offer superior production capacities and competitive costs. These findings pave the way for new opportunities for the development of solar energy in the country, thus contributing to the achievement of its energy and environmental objectives.
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