Feasibility study for first offshore wind power project gets nod - The Daily Star
Feasibility study for first offshore wind power project gets nod | The Daily Star
Feasibility study for first offshore wind power project gets nod
The government has given the nod, in principle, to conduct a detailed feasibility study for establishing the first offshore wind energy plant in Bangladesh.
In addition, approval was granted for completing the first phase of site development within the next three years, the company said in its statement issued yesterday.
Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP), in association with Summit Group, had placed the $1.3 billion investment proposal in July earlier this year, according to a press release from Summit Group.
The Power Division then gave approval by the end of October, said an official of the government agency.
Once complete, the 500-megawatt wind energy project located off the coast of Cox's Bazar in the country's southwest will directly supply electricity to the national grid via an onshore substation.
In particular, this project presents a unique opportunity for Bangladesh to maximise the utilisation of coastal resources and support the development of its blue economy, Summit said.
The country's largest private sector power producer also said even though Bangladesh has ambitious clean energy targets, it remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
Besides, importing fossil fuels has become comparatively costlier given the recent price hikes amid global inflationary pressure.
Therefore, Bangladesh needs to rapidly develop utility-scale renewable energy projects and adapt with climate resilient technologies to support its continued economic growth and eliminate poverty by 2041.
Citing a projection of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis that Bangladesh needs $1.7 billion annually for its green transition, Summit said their project with the CIP and COP may kickstart a new wave of foreign and domestic investment.
The offshore wind power 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 technological barriers for the entry of future projects.
Summit also said the preliminary findings suggest that hundreds of direct and indirect jobs will be created during the construction phase of the project.
Later on, dozens of high-skilled permanent positions for the 30-year operational phase will become available, it added.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.