Balancing Energy & Aquaculture in Bangladesh: First Floating Solar Power Plant Connects to National Grid

THDC to Build RE Projects of 3270 MW in Karnataka

Bangladesh has connected its first floating commercial solar power plant to the national grid. The farm is located in Chapainawabganj District, about 302 km northwest of the country capital Dhaka. The Joules Nawab Floating Solar Plant project consists of solar panels aggregating to a capacity of 2.3 MW mounted on specially designed floating platforms in a human-made pond spanning an area of 22,000 square meters. The plant is expected to be the first of many in Bangladesh, with its long coastline and high population density, which limits the possibilities for large utility scale ground mounted plants

Joules Power Ltd. (JPL) solar power plant has been established in collaboration with Nawab Auto Rice Mill. The project boasts a total production capacity of 2.3 MW, which was made possible by an investment of approximately $1.5 million.

Floating solar panels are installed on the water surface to produce clean energy. The electricity is produced without hampering the farming of fish and will contribute to the country’s efforts to meet its sustainable development goals and combat climate change.

Not all the capacity is from floating solar, though. The floating solar plant has a capacity of 800 kilowatts, while the rest remaining solar power is generated through rooftop solar. Reportedly, about 3,700 solar panels are being used at this solar power plant, 1,500 of which are floating, with the rest installed on the roof. The plant has a total of 15 inverters, six of which are used for floating.

The plant incorporates cutting-edge technology, with floaters, solar panels, and inverters sourced from renowned Chinese and German firms. The floaters are provided by Chinese firm Sungrow, while the solar panels are manufactured by Chinese firm JA Solar, and the inverters are supplied by German firm SMA Solar Technology.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid recently announced in a post from his social media account that “Fish and electricity will be available from the same reservoir.” Congratulating all those associated with the project, he said the authorities will closely monitor the growth of fish in the reservoir for the next few months. “If the power generation facility does not affect the reservoir’s ecosystem, then the authorities concerned will take the initiative to produce electricity on a larger scale in different reservoirs across the country,” he added.

The officials claim that there is no indication of harm to fish or the environment because of the solar power project.