%0 Journal Article
%T A Comprehensive Study of Micro-Hydropower Plant and Its Potential in Bangladesh
%A Jahidul Islam Razan
%A Riasat Siam Islam
%A Rezaul Hasan
%A Samiul Hasan
%A Fokhrul Islam
%J ISRN Renewable Energy
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/635396
%X Depletion of fossil fuel and the inability to meet the rising demand of electricity are some drawbacks for the economic development of Bangladesh. Carbon emission done by developed world is also troubling the country. This paper focuses on the potential of micro-hydropower plant in Bangladesh due to its numerous rivers and canals providing off-grid power to the remote areas and also to the areas that are still outside the main grid network. This paper reflects on the current energy scenario in Bangladesh, the need to explore green energy thus proving how the establishment of widespread micro-hydropower plant can help overcome the current power crisis and play a role in the economic progress of the country. The existing potential sites are mentioned and the means to identify new sites are outlined by performing hydrology studies, topographic studies, head calculations, turbine selection, and so forth. 1. Introduction Bangladesh, with its emerging commerce and industries, is facing a daunting task to cope up with the power crisis. There is a lack of sufficient power generation capacity, and the existing national grid network is unable to power the whole nation. The rural and remote areas have a low-load demand but the electricity supply has been characterized by high transmission and distribution costs, transmission losses, and heavily subsidized pricing. The demand for power is increasing at a rapid pace although the generation of power has not increased at the same proportion. The gap between demand and supply of power is quite significant. The shortage of power generation capacity is estimated to be around 2500£¿MW [1]. As a result, lack of a reliable electricity service has deterred foreign investment and held back economic growth. Energy consumption per capita is only 154£¿KWhr which is much less than any of the developed countries [2]. In order to overcome the heavy power crisis and rapid depletion of available resources, Bangladesh needs to opt for alternate energy sources in the form of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. The roadmap to energy security and energy sustainability will be achieved only if the economic and environmental aspects are taken into consideration. Due to the huge contribution of 19% of the world¡¯s electricity power from both large and small power plants, hydro power is the most widely used renewable energy [3¨C5]. Department of Energy (DOE) defines large hydropower as power plants having generation capacity of more than 30£¿MW [6]. Small hydropower plants are termed as having a generation capacity of 100£¿KW to 30£¿MW [6].
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.renewable.energy/2012/635396/