<i>Rice-husk power plant in the offing</i>
Photo shows a power plant in Gazipur run by rice husk and diesel. Sustainable Energy & Agro-resources Ltd is set to establish a power plant in Thakurgaon by using only rice husk. IDCOL
The country's biggest rice-husk-burn power plant is set to be established in the north within the next year.
The private sector venture to be set up at Chilarong of Thakurgaon district will generate 400 KWh of electricity mainly for small and medium size rice mills in the surrounding areas at daytime.
“We have planned to set up the rice-husk-burn electricity generation unit considering its business potential,” said Abul Fazal Manik, executive director of Sustainable Energy & Agro-resources Ltd (SEAL).
“Including two rice mills of our own, we want to supply electricity to about 20 mills. We also have plan to provide electricity for irrigation purposes at night,” Manik said.
He said SEAL, which looks for finance from Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) for the venture, has taken the initiative considering availability of raw materials adjacent to the project site.
Power generation through the technology in countries such as India and China has also encouraged the company to plan the venture.
A good number of rice-husk-based power plants have been set up in these countries.
In Bangladesh, the technology is quite new and only a single power plant with 250 KWh electricity generation capacity is now running in Gazipur. But stakeholders said the unit is run by rice husk and diesel.
“We will generate electricity only by rice husk. It will be the first 100 percent rice-husk-based power plant in Bangladesh,” said Manik.
According to industry estimates, Bangladesh produces about 60 lakh tonnes of rice husk a year from about three crore tonnes of paddy.
Analysts said about 40 lakh tonnes of rice husk are used for rice parboiling in tens of thousands of rice mills, domestic cooking, poultry and fish feed.
The rest could be used for power generation, they added.
They also said availability of rice husk will increase due to a gradual improvement in rice parboiling system by reducing rice husk consumption for parboiling at mills.
Manik said the plant will require 1.6-1.8 kg of rice husk to generate 1 kilowatt of electricity. Production cost will stand below Tk 5 per kilowatt.
SEAL also aims at producing import-substitute 'precipitated silica' with the rice-husk ash.
“There is a huge demand for precipitated silica in local market while global market for the product is worth about $2 billion,” Manik added.
The stakeholders said precipitated silica is used in rubber, toothpaste and other chemical industries, and almost all the local demand is met by imports.
Total cost for both the projects is estimated to be around Tk 8 crore.
Officials said IDCOL targets to finance the venture for generating a total of 50 MW electricity through rice-husk gasification technology by 2012.
“We are conducting a feasibility study. So far it appears that the project is viable especially because of the silica production component,” said Monirul Islam, general manager of IDCOL.
“Its positive impact is evident, as it will not create any additional pressure on conventional energy sources,” said Islam. “If we can promote such power plants in off-grid areas, it will meet both the regional and national demand.”
Saiful Huque, coordinator of Renewable Energy Research Centre at Dhaka University, said the expansion of the technology would help realise a portion of demand of the energy-starved country.
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