Policy Options While Increasing Share of Renewable Energy: Technology Choices for Peaking Power in the Context of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the peaking power plants that serve the peak time loads use conventional fossil fuels for power generation. These power stations remain idle for a good part of their operating life, which therefore results in a high overhead cost. Continuous integration of renewables into the grid is increasing the dependency on these, so far, feasibility of no other less-expensive options has been studied. In this context, this paper aims to analyze the financial feasibility of different alternative options. Three possible options were analyzed and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was compared with that of conventional peaking power plants. It was found that Battery-based storage systems are not financially feasible at this moment, while the nation’s lone hydro power plant promises financial feasibility if solar PV driven pumped hydro storage is implemented. We also report that if the nation continues to add solar PV power stations even with costly peaking power plants using traditional fuels, this hybrid option was counter intuitively found to be financially feasible.