Sowing Wind Turbines for Reaping the Clean and Competitive Energy: A Renewable Free Energy Resource Able to Supplement Energy Needs of Bangladesh
Authors: Khan Md. Mesbah-ul Ghani 
Published: December 2014

World is now endangered by the threat of fuel source scarcity and environmental degradation. Researchers all over the world are searching for the alternative energy resources to supplement the present energy needs and to conserve the conventional resources from depletion which are less costly and environmentally friendly. Harnessing the wind power and its utilization is one of the best possible answers. Investigations for recent years have revealed that wind energy has been the great deals to the rural farmers for their water pumping. Wind power can be used effectively in maintaining livestock, water supply, fish & ice farming, water desalination, sawing wood, irrigation, electrification, agricultural operations etc. If all possible considerations are given in exploiting wind energy, in the coming 4 to 5 decades it can meet 30% to 45% of the world’s total energy demand contributing no unwanted emissions into the atmosphere. It can adjust more jobs and occupies fewer lands. It is cheaper than any other sources.

Bangladesh possesses flat terrain, hilly & mountainous regions, open river banks & harbors, and a vast lengthy coastal belt by the sea “the Bay of Bengal” where reasonable wind flow round the year available. For most of the said areas, electricity supply from the mother grid is almost inaccessible due to various difficulties and limitations. Moreover, a total of 2105 MW national generation capability absolutely unable to meet the present suppressed peak demand of 2114 MW for the consumers already in the grid. This continuously causing a severe regular load shedding up to 30% of the peak demand. The large sized population of the above areas is being maintained over decades mostly from fuel wood, charcoal plant & agricultural residues, dung and very few from imported petroleum and derivatives as the only energy sources. The energy scarcity let the locality remained economically backward and noncontributing to the GDP. In some of the areas namely Chittagong Harbor, Coastal belts & City periphery, from recent observations the monthly mean wind speeds (m/s) ranging between 4.5 and 8.5 are recorded which show the genius prospect of reaping wind power in Bangladesh. Despite a promising future of this free fuel, benefits for utilizing this energy in Bangladesh are being missed because too little is known about either the resource or the technology. Wind energy can successfully be utilized in utility for supplementing our generation and to meet decentralized needs or wind-solar hybrids for Bangladeshi modern multistory buildings which are now meeting their energy deficit by individual diesel generators at higher money and environmental costs. In the context of Bangladesh, wind power to come to use, this paper is an attempt to describe the methodologies for site selection; wind data collection & regime modeling; power availability, conversion & storage; turbine performance monitoring & augmenting wind speed using cloth scoops including costs and environmental impact Assessment. This paper also discusses Bangladesh energy scenario and strategies for meeting deficit demand and summarizes global wind development and proposes that Bangladesh government and other agencies must take immediate initiatives towards implementing wind projects.