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Techno-economic Evaluation of Solar Irrigation Plants Installed in Bangladesh

Najmul Hoque
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh

Amit Roy
aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh

Mohd. Rafiqul Alam Beg
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh

B. K. Das
School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

In the summer season, irrigation sector in Bangladesh suffers a lot due to the country wide electricity crisis. Solar pump offers a clean and simple alternative to the conventional fuel fired engine or grid electricity driven pump in this regard to resolve the issue. In this paper, the techno- economic analyses of solar irrigation plants installed in Bangladesh are evaluated. It was observed that systems were running around 70% to 80% of the rated power which was quite acceptable. A 10 hp pump was able to pump 600 liter of water per minute which was also satisfactory to irrigate the land. Average operating time was found to be 8 hour/day. It was found that the overall efficiency of the systems were in between 11.39% to 16.52% whereas the typical average value of lit/Wp/year was 9200. On the other hand, the cost of irrigation to cultivate paddy in 0.161 hectares’ land for one season was 1,750 BDT by solar irrigation which was found to be lower than that of other available modes. This charge for grid electricity based irrigation was about 3,000 to 3500 BDT per 0.161 hectares’ and 2,300 to 2,600 BDT per 0.161 hectares’ for diesel engine based irrigation. According to the current financial scheme (15% equity investment, 35% credit support and remaining 50% from government through IDCOL) the average value of payback period was 5.43 years, NPV in the range from 7 to 15% and IRR was 18%. By considering 100% equity investment, however, these projects were not economically attractive. The payback period for this case was about 18 years. Study also revealed that each solar irrigation plant reduces 42.8 kg of CO2 emission per day compare to diesel engine operated pump and 2566.24 kg/day compared to grid electricity operated pump. A comprehensive effort from the Government as well as from all the stakeholders is required for further expansion of solar irrigation plants in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Solar pumping, Irrigation, Techno-economic analysis, Bangladesh

Location: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology

Start Date: 00-10-2013

End Date: 00-09-2014

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Commodity: Performance

Objectives:

To evaluate the techno- economic analysis of solar irrigation plants installed in Bangladesh.

Methodology:

Nine solar irrigation plants from five districts of the country were selected randomly and data collection was carried out by twelve months’ period from October 2013 to September 2014 by field visit. All of these projects were installed by the partner organizations (POs) under the support of Bangladesh government through Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) and were selected from Jessor, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Bogra and Manikgong districts in Bangladesh.

Source of Information: Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development 5 (1) 2016: 73-78; ISSN: 2252-4940

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Solar irrigation system is a blessing to the farmer where grid electricity supply is not sufficient. According to the field visit, it was found that 10 hp pump was capable to cultivate about 16.1 hectares’ land. The average efficiency of the systems was 16.52% while average operating time per day was quite satisfactory as well. The initial cost of the project was high but the maintenance cost was reasonably low. From the analysis of the project of Grameen Shakti, it was found that the payback period and IRR were 5.50 years and 18% respectively. Solar irrigation is still quite new in Bangladesh. Proper policy and financial subsidies should be implemented by the government to popularize the project within the country.

Knowledge Management: Journal