Bangladesh - first wind generated power plant launched

Bangladesh's first wind generated power project has been put on operation on pilot basis with high rate of success in producing electricity. "Electricity generated on trial basis from four windmills is connected with the distribution cable of Palli Biddut Samity providing uninterrupted additional power generation with the capacity of one MW per day for the last four months," The Bangladesh Observer quoted a Bangladesh Power Development Board ( PDB) source as saying on Saturday. A total of four three-bladed windmills were installed at Muhari in Feni district of Chittagong division, southeast of Bangladesh, with the assistance of Indian NEPC Company under the direct supervision of PDB.

The 50-feet (15-meter) tall windmills with the highest power production capacity of 225 KW each has been installed at a cost of 73.6 million taka (1.23 million US dollars), The Bangladesh Observer reported. According to the report, PDB could produce 2,000 MW of power in the coastal belt installing 30 windmills per square km. The windmills that can be installed in the coastal belts can sustain 250 km per hour cyclonic storm. At present 90 percent of the country's electricity is produced by natural gas. If the same amount of gas used in every year then the reserve of gas will be run out within 15 years. Moreover wind energy is a clean energy source, cheaper to maintain, saves fuel and can give decentralized energy without generating pollutants, the report said. Bangladesh has good opportunity in wind power because it has a 724 km long coastline and many small islands in the Bay of Bengal, where strong southwesterly wind and sea breeze blow in the summer months and there is gentle northeasterly wind and breeze in winter months.