Danish firms offer $1.3b for offshore wind energy project

Bangladesh's offshore wind energy is expecting a big boost soon as Denmark-based investor CIP and developer COP have joined hands with local conglomerate Summit Group for developing a $1.3 billion wind power project off the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

In a proposal submitted to the Prime Minister's Office, the Danish investors wished to implement the project with 500MW capacity, which would be the largest-ever investment offer for Bangladesh in the wind energy sector.

Being able to generate electricity round the clock, the project could be a competitive option for Bangladesh as the electricity generation from offshore wind power costs around $0.075 per kilowatt hour or Tk7.86 at the current rate, which is much cheaper than coal or LNG and oil-fired power plants.

Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) develops offshore wind projects exclusively for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), one of the leading green infrastructure fund managers in the world.

To date, CIP has raised $19 billion from more than 120 international institutional investors worldwide, reads its official data.

"We have done a pre-feasibility study and are now seeking in-principle approval from BPDB to allow us to initiate the feasibility study, which is costly for an offshore wind project development. It entails wind measurements, environmental impact assessment and ground condition surveys," said René von Bülow, director of New Markets at COP.  

The project is expected to be operational in 2028 in line with grid expansions in Cox's Bazar and Teknaf, he confirmed in an email response to The Business Standard.

To discuss the proposal, Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Winnie Estrup Petersen is scheduled to meet Bangladesh's president and prime minister on July 13 and July 19, said sources at the Embassy.

The proposal comes at a crucial point in time when despite its ambitious clean energy targets, Bangladesh struggles to progress due to land constraints to produce solar power and poor prospects in hydropower.

The initial investment proposal and continued collaboration offer made by the consortium were disclosed in a COP press release issued on Tuesday.

The utility-scale offshore wind project with an initial capacity of 500MW is expected to be a key driver of Bangladesh's progression into a green nation, claimed the release.

This offshore wind project in particular presents a unique opportunity for the country to maximise the utilisation of its coastal resources, supporting the development of the Blue Economy, it read.

Once implemented, this offshore wind project will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh – and possibly South Asia, enabling a technology transfer that would accelerate the learning curve for a nascent industry and reduce barriers to entry for future projects.

The preliminary study findings suggest that hundreds of direct and indirect jobs could be created during the construction phase, in addition to dozens of permanent positions during the 30-year operational phase of the project.

Where Bangladesh stands in wind and renewable energy

As per the Power Sector Master Plan 2016, the government aims to generate 10% of its power from renewable sources by 2030 and 40% by 2041 when the country's total power generation capacity would stand at 40GW and 60GW respectively.

Currently, Bangladesh's total renewable energy production capacity stands at only 4.34% of its total capacity, with solar energy being the primary source of renewable energy production.

The presence of wind energy is too negligible to present in percentage. Only a 60MW wind power project at Cox's Bazar recently started operation which is supplying around 20MW electricity per day.

Earlier in 2017, a National Renewable Energy Laboratory study said Bangladesh has a wind speed of 5.75-7.75 metres per second, which has a potential of 30,000MW land-based wind power generation per day.

Bangladesh has previously attempted to harness wind energy with two onshore windmills in Cox's Bazar and Feni. However, technical faults like low height have caused them to remain out of service.

Currently, there are eight windmill projects in different stages of completion, with a combined capacity of 357MW.

Govt initiatives to harness offshore wind

Being obstructed by land scarcity to develop solar power generation, the government is now exploring offshore wind power as a potential alternative energy.

The Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources has signed a contract with the Italian firm Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano (CESI) and its joint venture partners to conduct a pre-feasibility and detailed feasibility study for developing offshore wind farms in the Bay of Bengal.

Funded by the Asian Development Bank, the project began on 16 February this year and aims to identify potential offshore areas for wind power development.

Md Nurul Alam, additional secretary (Planning) at Power Division and the Project Director at the Pre-feasibility and Detail Feasibility Study to Develop Offshore Wind Farm in Bangladesh, said the Italian consultancy firm already completed the first phase work and started second phase activities.

The second phase activities include identifying two most suitable sites and finding out the best model to build a substation and transmission system.

In addition, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) is implementing a wind resource assessment project in four sites in the country in cooperation with the World Bank.