In July 2023, Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), in collaboration with offshore wind developer Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP), announced plans to invest $1.3bn in an offshore wind farm at the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. This project could be the first offshore wind farm to be built in Bangladesh and marks a significant stage for the country’s renewable energy ambitions in accordance with the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan.

In May this year, a 60 MW wind power plant based in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar in Chittagong was connected to the national grid. This was the first significant onshore wind project in Bangladesh and is run by US-DK Green Energy BD, a US/Denmark and Bangladesh joint venture, with the support of Chinese financing. The $116.5mn project is expected to generate 145,600 MWh electricity to offset 109,200 t/y of CO₂ emissions.

Good prospects
The new offshore project has the potential to dwarf the Cox’s Bazar wind project. Under the proposal made to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, a 500 MW offshore wind power farm could be installed, subject to an offshore licence permit. CIP and COP have asked permission to initiate a feasibility study.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has also signed a contract with the Italian firm Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano (CESI) to conduct a feasibility study for developing offshore wind farms in the Bay of Bengal. Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, the Deputy Team Leader of the consultancy team, says the study should be completed by December and will include a projection of how much offshore wind power can be generated in Bangladesh.

The move towards renewables makes sense in carbon terms as Bangladesh is currently reliant on fossil fuels for electricity generation, with 60% of power generated by natural gas, according to Germany-based statistical service Statista.

The new renewable energy sources will also help with energy security, as there is an urgent need to diversify Bangladesh’s power generation due to a regular series of power cuts (ie load shedding). In the first week of June, for example, there was up to 2,500 MW of loadshedding in the national grid, according to the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh.

These problems, according to State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, were not actually a capacity issue ‘but a supply chain problem’, with Bangladesh lacking sufficient supplies of gas, oil and coal to fuel its power plants. In June 2023, communities across Bangladesh faced up to 12 hours per day of power cuts.

Lower energy cost potential
Renewables also offer the potential to lower energy costs. According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, the average cost of electricity generation in Bangladesh is around $0.10 per unit. Meanwhile, given its flat maritime landscape which is buffeted with coastal breezes, Bangladesh offers a financially competitive option with wind power. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that electricity generation costs using wind power could be around $0.075 per unit.

Assuming these green energy projects proceed, the Ministry for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources anticipates generating 10% of its energy mix from clean sources by 2030, and 40% by 2041. However, these ambitions have yet to be reflected in the country’s renewables development.

According to Statista, in 2022 only 0.01% of power generation came from wind, 0.04% from bioenergy, 0.76% solar and 1.14% hydro.

Land constraints and reduced hydropower
According to Shafiqul Alam, Energy Finance Analyst for Bangladesh at the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a key problem is the land constraints in Bangladesh’s densely populated country (1,329 people per km²) for solar power production.

Furthermore, the country’s only hydropower project is generating decreased electricity due to reduced rainfall, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. The country’s only hydropower project, the Kaptai Dam on the Karnaphuli River, was built in 1962 and has a capacity of 230 MW. It is running at 13–26% capacity due to climate change-induced irregular rain and ageing infrastructure, according to the Bangladesh Power Development Board.

Solar power does, however, hold more promise. In August 2023, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country’s largest 200 MW solar power project, in Gaibandha, northern Bangladesh. According to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), Bangladesh currently has a total installed capacity of 960 MW of solar power.

While that is larger capacity than Bangladesh’s current 12 onshore wind power projects of 359.9 MW (including those in the planning phase, according to SREDA), the planned expansion could see wind overtake solar power output, both onshore and with far greater potential offshore.

‘The Cox’s Bazar [onshore wind] operation and the new Danish [offshore wind] investment offer great optimism for the future of Bangladesh’s clean energy in wind power’, says Shafiqul.

Despite technical problems with the onshore wind plants in Feni and Cox’s Bazar, due to poor locations and low turbine height which reduced output, since its inauguration the Cox’s Bazar plant has been providing a stable flow of electricity to the national grid. Mukit Alam Khan, Project Manager of US-DK Green Energy, says the project is pushing 30 MW into the grid. ‘We started with 20 MW in May and increased to 30 MW in July. We are trying to connect the remaining 30 MW by October.’

Looking at the offshore wind projects, Shafiqul told New Energy World: ‘This offshore investment offer is a positive sign… as our renewable energy is currently advancing very slowly.’ He explained: ‘If we can plan well, it is possible to generate 5–7 GW of electricity from wind power in Bangladesh’s onshore coastline. But it depends on many factors and challenges with land acquisition and infrastructure. However, if government planning goes well, it is possible.’

It is still early days, admits SREDA Chairman Munira Sultana. ‘We don’t have any particular plan in writing for wind power advancement. This is still in our research phase. We are conducting feasibility studies. After we get the results, we will get to the planning stage.’

‘The Cox’s Bazar [onshore wind] operation and the new Danish [offshore wind] investment offer create optimism for the future of Bangladesh’s clean energy in wind power’ – Shafiqul Alam, Energy Finance Analyst for Bangladesh at IEEFA

Skills shortage
One weakness at present is that wind power in Bangladesh, a nascent sector, is running on imported expertise. Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, of the offshore potential study team, is one of few Bangladeshi experts in the renewable energy sector. He says there is a dearth of local expertise in both the wind and solar sectors. ‘We lack expertise. The government is hiring consultants from abroad for their projects and if the foreign companies are investing, they are bringing the consultants with them… The entire technology is also import-driven. In fact, it is the case with most countries in the world, not only Bangladesh,’ he adds.

Mukit says the dependency on imports will remain until renewables are sufficiently established in Bangladesh for local companies to take manufacturing green energy technologies seriously.  But he adds that his company has recruited and trained several local people to work alongside foreign experts to grow Bangladeshi capacity to support the system. ‘We train people under different projects and we will do more in future,’ he says.

The Danish offshore offer, if implemented, may also boost local training via technology transfer, creating hundreds of jobs in construction, commissioning and operations.

However, one more challenge to tackle is Bangladesh’s transmission infrastructure. Chowdhury states that the infrastructure cannot yet handle large-scale wind power and needs renovation. ‘Suppose the current line can transfer 5,000 MW power to Dhaka from Chattogram [on the south-east coast]. Currently, the entire line is occupied. At best we can have 1,000 MW spare capacity… If you want to have larger power projects in future, especially the offshore wind power plants [that] are large in size, you must enhance the capacity of transmission infrastructure,’ he says.

Mukit agrees. ‘Our present grid system is incapable of handling the variable capacity of the wind power… When such a shock occurs, there will be voltage and frequency fluctuations; every parameter will have a fluctuation. Our grid doesn’t have the capacity to cope with such fluctuation.’

He says a wider range of power sources would help Bangladesh plan for sustainable supplies. ‘Our peak demand is in the night [through the evening until 11pm, when winds usually speed up]. If we can maximise our wind energy at night... we can reduce our fuel, oil and even LNG imports. So, this is an opportunity,’ he explains.

Dr Emadul Islam, a Research Fellow in the Ocean Policy Research Policy Institute at the Tokyo-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation, believes making such a transition work depends on solid research and technology choices. ‘The Bangladesh government should be careful about [selecting] investor countries and technology. The Nordic countries, for example, have advanced technology. This could be a good choice. But there should be more research. The reality is that the global climate is changing very rapidly. There should be more research on whether this much wind is available in this Bay of Bengal area,’ he says.

SREDA’s Munira Sultana, says the Bangladesh government is optimistic about wind power in Bangladesh. Could wind have the potential to address the country’s current energy crisis? ‘Given the wind pressure we have [5.75–7.75 m/s], we have reasons for optimism,’ she concludes.