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Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy |
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Integrated Tidal Power and Coastal Development Project Sandwip, Bangladesh.This case study is based on a development project proposed for an island in Bangladesh. Read the project proposal and then answer the questions at the end.
Aim Location Program Outline Electricity production, distribution and management Pilot Project Questions SummaryThe energy tension for countries such as Bangladesh is experienced as a nexus between powering development and sustaining the environment. The resources necessary to provide the energy to protect and enhance the quality of life, are likewise precious ecological resources of the country and its future generations. Therefore, sustainable energy provision remains one of the core issues for powering the future development for countries such as Bangladesh. Such sustainable energy provision requires methodologies that are locally innovative, and not reliant on experiences borrowed from other socio-ecological environments. It is proposed that this 'Tidal Power & Coastal Development Program' is such a project, featuring both technical and social innovativeness. Technically, it will be the world's first utilisation of an island flood control system to generate small-scale tidal power and local aquaculture management. Socially, it will be a model of local capacity building, with Sandwip's geographical isolation determining that core institutional capacity must reside on this island. Using a barrage and sluice gate system already in place for flood control, the project proposes to use simple paddle wheel technology to generate power from the 5m tides in the Sandwip region. Through modern electronic control systems it is possible to feed power from multiple de-centralised sources, into a grid system, such as the one already existing on the island. The installation of 28 tidal power generators of 75 kW, with a generation potential of approx. 2 MW, could then be supplemented by the diesel generators on the island.[refer Fig. 1 for map of Sandwip & services]. In order to create the two way tidal flow system some development of the existing tidal channels and inland ponds will be necessary. This will be essential to ensure adequate generation capacity, however such development will also furnish other local benefits. The largest tidal channels can be used to provide 24 hour navigable channels, presently not available on the island. The inland ponds can be converted to aquaculture (shrimp ponds) from presently underutilised 'beels', thus taking advantage of daily flushing. Additionally, the advantage of an operational tidal management system is that its activation as a flood control system, removing excess water from the island during extreme rainfall events, will be guaranteed. The primary appeal of this program is that the concept is based on utilising existing infrastructure and resources. The scheme has a capacity to utilise the existing flood control barrages and electric grid distribution system with upgrades designed to incorporate local technology, expertise and management. The social innovation is to ensure that there is an appropriate social infrastructure in place to manage technical and economic changes. The multi-sectorial alignment of the project - power & water management - necessitates the cooperative synthesis of two GOB implementing agencies:
This process will be supported through the assistance and involvement of agencies:
lAny other agency/agencies involved in activitities which will be contributable to the proposed project. A phased approach of implementation shall be adopted by first trialing the concept in a defined and almost controlled manner - through staging a Pilot Project. The aim of this approach is to ensure that the multi-dimensional tensions of the community needs and resources, the organisational aims and objectives, the technical design and maintenance regimes, the economics of financing and markets, can all be deliberated over, prior to the upscaling of the project. Phase I, shall focus on the needs assessment of one specific location - involving a situated community structure, sluice gate site, local manufacture and installation of tidal wheels and performance monitoring for energising a defined set of activities, with a nominated area for pond development for piloting water management and aquaculture activities. Phase II, will incorporate the detailed design and installation of a pilot hybrid tidal/renewable energy system, water management and aquaculture development with co-requisite community/institutional mobilisation activities, monitoring and evaluation activities. The completion of both Phase I & II of the Pilot Project will hopefully provide an appropriate execution of this integrated development concept. [Box 1 identifies the integrated nature of this concept]. This approach can then be upscaled to encompass the 28 potential sites identified on the island, with other parts of coastal Bangladesh a possible extension.  Photo 01 One of the sluice gates in an embankment on Sandwip. This is where a tidal wheel could be used to produce power  Photo 02 Brendon Corrie from Tidal Energy Australia measures tidal range on Sandwip  Photo 03 Brendon Corrie and Forkan Udin examine a sluice gate; the long tidal flats show where a navigable channel could be dug  Photo 04 To reach Sandwip most people must be pushed through the mud in a flat boat  Photo 05 High tide  Photo 06 Low tide  Photo 07 Fishing for shrimps in the tidal channel; an aquaculture project could make this much more productive  Photo 08 Being pushed over the mud to reach Sandwip  Photo 09 Preparing to cross the Bay of Bengal to Sandwip. People are collecting shrimps from nets  Photo 10 Mark Saupin and Brendon Corrie examine a sluice gate  Photo 11 The Grameen Bank built this cyclone shelter on Sandwip  Photo 12 School children with their books. No school has power on Sandwip  Photo 13 A village family on Sandwip  Photo 14 Shrimps which could be developed further in aquaculture  Photo 15 Firewood collected from the village tree crops are adequate for most cooking needs  Photo 16 The electricity grid links some businesses in one street. Power is provided for a few hours a day  Photo 17 The old diesel power generators  Photo 18 An inland pond suitable for aquaculture and for tidal power generation  Photo 19 The Australian-Bangladeshi partnership  Photo 20 Villagers on the embankment where the first tidal wheel will be placed AimTo develop energy systems that are symbiotic with the multi-dimensional tensions inherent in development - social, organisational, intellectual, environmental, economic and technical. PROGRAM GOALS
BackgroundThe development of the industrialised countries of the North was largely built on the base of what we now know as excessive energy consumption. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of an already overburdened environment, this path of industrialisation to fuel growth is now recognised to be an inadequate option for countries of the South. Thus countries such as Bangladesh must fuel their development with energy supply systems that are appropriate to the circumstances prevailing within their present and proposed future environment. To do so they must develop innovative solutions that meet their particular needs and resources. With relation to the energy debate, Bangladesh is characterised by:
Additionally, Bangladesh suffers from an extreme vulnerability to climate change, due to both location as well as seasonal dependency of their agricultural systems. Within Bangladesh, the need to foster large growth rates in energy supply just to met basic human needs is only too obvious. However, the limitations that the global climate change and the natural environment place on such growth, is similarly poignant. It is proposed that the application of diversified, decentralised community based renewable energy supply systems offers sustainable alternatives for the provision of energy to the fast growing demand in rural Bangladesh. Innovative projects that can demonstrate this are needed. LocationThe island of Sandwip is located in the Bay of Bengal, adjacent to Chittagong and a mere 15 km from the mainland. The population is around 330,000 on an area of 240 km2. The entire island is a mudflat created from the Ganges delta (Fig. 1 map refers). A scoping visit to Sandwip was made in late November, 1999 by the Executive Agencies assisted by the Rural Electrification Board and Grameen Shakti. This island is not a tourist destination, and is rarely visited by Bangladeshi's. The 5 m tides experienced at Sandwip results in poor accessibility, with the island constantly surrounded by mud flats, except during high tides. The island is subject to flooding from cyclones and in 1991 over one thousand people were drowned. A flood control barrage exists around the entire island and this contains 28 sluice gates (see Fig. 1). A short electricity grid is also available linking the main commercial areas on the island. Two diesel generators of 200 kW run for a few hours late afternoon/early evening supplying electricity, mainly for commercial use. Some households have batteries for lighting/television and some diesel generators are used for powering rice threshers. A PV system is used to maintain a fridge for vaccines in the health centre. The mud flats are extremely rich soil hence it is easy to grow a variety of food crops. The island is an exporter of rice and is largely self sufficient in vegetables and fruits. No aquaculture is conducted on the island, though shrimps are collected from the mud flats. None of the island's schools or colleges have electricity and opportunities for employment growth on the island are limited. Program OutlineThis project offers a range of small scale technological and economic innovations that, it is proposed, possess a unique potential to adapt to the culture and ecology on this island. In aiming to ensure such innovations fall within the deeply felt needs of the local people, requires comprehensive needs assessment, sensitive capacity building and recognition of appropriate social structures. This, community assessment & mobilisation process shall be undertaken within Phase I of the Project. However, the focus of this concept outline is to attempt to define the major components that will be incorporated within the broad goals of the project. Generally this involves utilising the present flood control coastal engineering to develop a tidal power system (see Box 2). This will require some deepening of channels and ponds on the island, though when done in conjunction with the potentially very rewarding industry of shrimp aquaculture, this is likely to be a manageable cost (see Box 4). Furthermore, it will have benefits for navigation and flood control (see Box 3). Thus tidal energy and water management become linked as a tool for integrated island development as set out previously in Box 1. Thus, the conceptual details of this program are most easily elaborated within the scope of the individual sectors of: a) electricity production, distribution and management, and b) water management for aquaculture, flood control and navigability. Electricity production, distribution and managementThe needs of the island, the innovation in the project and the early development phases of the project, suggest that the Rural Electrification Board (REB) would be the ideal implementation agency. The success of the project will necessitate the development and refinement of appropriate generation, and distribution energy technology. Although the use of tidal power dates back to the 11th Century, when tidal mills were used to grind flour in Europe, application today is extremely limited. The main reason the technology is not used more extensively is that it requires large-scale expensive coastal engineering to tap the potential energy of the tides. Once built, tidal power is extremely cheap (like hydro). Most systems employ a dammed coastal inlet, predominantly relying on pressure differential to power turbines.[1] Although, flow-based generation systems are older than pressure-based systems, their utilisation is extremely low due to their lower generation capacities and efficiencies. BOX 2 - DECENTRALISED TIDAL POWERThe tides in Sandwip demonstrate roughly a 5 hour 'in' and 7 hour 'out' cycle. Traditional tidal technology would generate large quantities of energy during approximately 6 hours of this cycle. Flow driven tidal technology (as proposed in Fig. 3 & 4) has the capacity to generate far less power, but over a greater time period. Utilising paddle wheel technology, and by lagging the flow by 1-2 hours, through the restriction of both in-flow and out-flow, enables generation for approximately 11 hours, of a 12 hour cycle. Here generation occurs when the water is flowing both in and out, with the change in rotation occurring during a flowing tide. Therefore, the static state of high tide is still characterised by subsequent flow through the sluice gate and hence power generation. (The effect of this lagging of the tidal generation regime through sluice gate restriction is shown in Fig. 2.) The inconvenience of the loss of electricity experienced when the turbines are in a stalled state will be diminished through the grid connection of a series of power generators around the island. The differentiation in the timing of tidal extremes (due to tidal currents) around the island should ensure 24 hour power supply. The integration of electronic controls on the generators can enable these variations in power to be phased in, and regulated into the grid. During the night the excess power produced can be directed into battery charging. These batteries can be provided for households living off the grid. Backup diesel generation, can be used to supplement the power supply at peak demand times. The installation of 75 kW turbines, generating 80% of full capacity for 23 hours per day, equates to the production of approximately 1,380 kW.hr per day. It is proposed that the manufacture and installation costs for one site will be in the order of $50,000. [By means of rough comparison the purchase and installation of a 75 kW diesel generator is (AUS)$ 37,500. Assuming a running cost of 10 c/kW the annual costs is (AUS)$ 65,700. The capitalised development cost over a 10 year period equates to (AUS)$ 650,000]. Existing REB technology and infrastructure will be utilised within the project. The existing REB diesel generation system can be utilised for power provision during peak periods, as well as providing a baseline of costing information for electricity generation on the island. The REB distribution grid system can also be utilised for distributing electicity to users. In addition REB community mobilisation processes will also be employed. i.e. In order to develop local responsibility for electricity provision REB are engaged in promoting rural co-operatives - which are trained to take over the operation, maintenance and full financial responsibility for their distribution system. This often involves international donors providing the necessary capital for construction of the systems. It is hoped to pursue this model with a strong emphasis on training in energy management /energy efficiency as part of the technology transfer. CMES and Grameen Shakti will assist in this capacity building process. In keeping with the broadly integrated nature of this program, it is proposed that alternative renewable energy sources will also be assessed during initial site investigations. Additional renewable inputs would realise greater installed capacity and thus, broaden the scope of energy-based development activities. Energy processes such as biomass for product drying and Solar PV for refrigeration broaden the energy base and reduce the risks associated with energy delivery. WATER MANAGEMENT FOR AQUACULTURE, FLOOD CONTROL AND NAVIGABILITYThe Local Government Engineering Department is experienced at managing water through deepening channels and building lagoons and levees. Local knowledge, expertise and labour will be utilised to ensure the project has complete local support and character. BOX 3 WATER MANAGEMENTThe island can be seen in cross section in Figure 3. The goal of the water management concept is to deepen the sluice gates in several key places to enable a larger head of water for the tidal power. This means that in those key locations it would be possible to have navigable water 24 hours a day to the edge of the barrage. At present, apart from high tide times people need to walk through mud (or be pushed in small boats through the mud) to reach the main boats for travelling across the Bay of Bengal. The deepening of the channel can be begun by existing manual processes and along with the lagoon storage system would occur by natural scouring once the system was begun. The inland lagoons exist in most places but will need to be deepened in order to create sufficient volume of water for the flow back to the ocean to produce power. Deepening of the ponds is a process well known by locals using human and animal power. The mud scoured out can be used to reinforce the barrage or shape the aquaculture ponds. This work will need to be closely supervised by Local Government Engineering Department but is still much dependent on local 'know how' and skill. The impacts of the coastal engineering on existing patterns of water use by the community are not fully understood. For example, will flushing serve to re-arrange the existing pattern of ponds and therefore, likely to create social tensions between farmers or farmer groups? A critical component of initial assessments will be to look at aspects of land tenure and the present allocation/utilisation of land between land owners/users. The proposed establishment of aquaculture processes and markets will require significant research environmentally, socially and economically. Once the definition of viability is achieved, the development and subsequent training in the appropriate methodologies for aquaculture management will comprise a large part of the project. This will necessitate assistance from local Ministry of Fisheries sources and experts in aquaculture management. BOX 4 SHRIMP AQUACULTUREBangladesh has not had a tradition of aquaculture. There is now a thriving local industry based on shrimp collection from the mud flats in the Bay of Bengal. This is, however, not controlled or optimised for production as can be obtained in a pond system. The local shrimp survives the variations in fresh water / salt water through the seasons and is of course adapted to the tidal flows. It is possible to mimic these conditions by adapting the many 'beels' on the island for aquaculture. They will need to be constantly flushed and hence allowing water to come in and out with the tides is ideal. This will also clean the ponds and provide new nutrients regularly. The aquaculture concept needs to be researched further with local sources. In the establishment of aquaculture, it will be necessary to verify the latent comparative factor advantages of Sandwip in order to assess their relative competitive advantage in the local export (international/mainland) market? That is, the extent and quality of factor assets, production capability and associated activities, regulatory barriers, cost structures and so on. Another important consideration is the prospects for value-adding to indigenous resources/local activities. Taking prawn production as an example, what are the prospects and processes to develop/strengthen dry prawn exports? Experience shows that local knowledge amongst farmers mixed with desire and ambition can produce very creative suggestions. In order to ensure broad replicability the Grameen Bank will oversee the establishment of co-operatives and furnishing of loans to local people. The use of the existing flood control barrage system for the generation of small scale tidal energy has obvious advantages in terms of the large civil costs normally associated with the establishment of tidal energy systems. In return, the daily operation of the system ensures that the system is maintained and available to drain water from the island in the event of excess rain. At present when there is a large buildup of fresh water the island administration is forced to break the barrage so that the excess water can be drained. Thus the project offers improvements to the flood control capacity of the island. The viability of this project is enhanced by the multi-dimensional aspects of the concept which offers scope to incorporate a range of value adding processes. The extent to which this occurs will depend on the community development focus. Community Benefits and ProblemsVarious pathways for sustainable development can be argued convincingly, however the need to base the conceptualisation of a development process on local socio-economic conditions is paramount. It is thus proposed that the project concept shall develop a foundation on the assessment of:
These will then be refined on the basis of field work Subsistence island economies generally demonstrate characteristics of reliance on transfer income, low job growth, poorly paid day labour, rural-urban migration etc. However, if development activities reduce the rate of rural-urban migration there must be local job opportunities created. The priorities of these issues are addressed at community level, through the undertaking of a 'Community Needs Assessment'. Following on from this needs assessment, project planning shall focus on Community Mobilisation - The Building of Community Partnerships as a priority within the process. The project will investigate how the integrated development concept could improve health, education, access, safety, the economy and community life on Sandwip. It will also scope out any potential problems associated with changes to the local hydrology through technical assessments and detailed discussions with the people involved. The potential to expand and extend the concept to other parts of Bangladesh is obvious. This will be evaluated in the overall concept though only after a detailed demonstration has been conducted on Sandwip. The global significance of the project needs to be assessed as not only are there other places with similar tidal ranges but this is a non-greenhouse gas emitting energy source. The opportunity to attract international funds through the Clean Development Mechanism is thus apparent. Climate change predictions suggest low-lying areas of Bangladesh would be more susceptible to flooding in future. Through there is also expected to be more sediment in the rivers and hence Bangladesh may not be as susceptible as many observors have thought due to increased soil deposition. Whatever happens, enhanced coastal engineering will be necessary and tidal power offers an extra benefit to moves designed to improve barrages and water management. Thus climate change preparations can be turned to be advantageous to Bangladesh. Pilot ProjectGiven the multi-faceted elements of this program it is proposed that the implementation details are best elaborated through the application of a pilot project. This pilot project will undertake to manage the full cycle of assessments, design, implementation and evaluation in one site - prior to undertaking the development of the 28 sites identified on the island. This process for determining an appropriate program through the implementation of a Pilot Project shall be phased as follows: PHASE I - "PRE-FEASIBILITY FOR HYBRID/TIDAL RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE ISLAND DEVELOPMENT"Shall aim to assess:
Key Output of Phase I: Pre-feasibility Report for Pilot Project (as basis of a funding application). PHASE 2 - DESIGN AND INSTALLATION OF A PILOT HYBRID TIDAL/RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM, WATER MANAGEMENT AND AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT WITH CO-REQUISITE COMMUNITY/INSTITUTIONAL MOBILISATION ACTIVITIES, MONITORING AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES AT ONE DEFINED SITE.Activities will include:
Key Output Phase II: Hybrid Tidal Renewable Energy Project for Sustainable Development (Water Management and Aquaculture expansion) Implementing AgenciesSuccess throughout all stages of this project, and importantly, its on-going viability as a catalyst for sustainable community development will only be achieved by strong support from the Government of Bangladesh. The operational facets of this project, including long-term community involvement, will only arise through shared enthusiasm and collective efforts by local development institutions with partnership links to the communities at the centre of this project. The project will utilise several implementing agencies but will be managed overall by the Rural Electrification Board. Other implementing agencies include: * Local Government Engineering Department (water management), * Ministry of Fisheries (aquaculture), * Sandwip Island Administration (community development), and * Ministry of Planning / Planning Commission (overall direction of project). Other non-government agencies with significant implementation involvement include: * Centre for Mass Education and Science * Grameen Bank (and Grameen Shakti) * Dhaka University & Khulna University. A high level Steering Committee will assist the implementation of the project and will be chaired by Professor Ibrahim from Dhaka University. The Executive Agencies will be the ISTP (Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy) at Murdoch University and CASE (The International Centre for Application of Solar Energy). Both are based in Perth - just two time zones away and increasingly a place of focus for technical and development expertise in the Indian Ocean region. INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY POLICYISTP has a strong international focus providing teaching and research designed to help create a more sustainable world. In teaching it has developed with AusAID an innovative on-line Masters degree in Asian Sustainable Development. In research it has 60 PhD students committed to research projects with international significance. For this project ISTP has significant resources to offer in the form of several committed PhD students, mostly Bangladeshi. These people are: Firoze Siddique, a research evaluation / policy specialist from BCSIR whose PhD will include a case study of the Sandwip project in terms of evaluation methodology, linking technology innovation and processes for successful devolution to ensure sustainable grass roots development. Firoze was part of the on-site visit team in November. Md. Salequzzaman, an Assistant Professor in Environmental Science Discipline from Khulna University who will be doing detailed work on the relevance of tidal power to coastal development in Bangladesh. He will particularly work on environmental and water management issues, including aquaculture as a part of integrated coastal management (ICM), associated with Sandwip. The potential application of the Sandwip model to other parts of Bangladesh's coastal regions will be elaborated. Rabiul Amin, an economist with the Planning Commission, will be examining the potentiality of the Clean Devlopment Mechanism (CDM) as a tool (technique/instrument) of technology transfer for economic development of Bangladesh, in which Sandwip will be a case study. Mark Ellery, an Australian engineer who has worked for two years in Pakistan and recently returned to his PhD after six months assisting in Kosovan refugee camps. Mark will live in Chittagong and will be available to assist in scoping and implementation of the project. His PhD thesis aims to elucidate the multiple goals of development projects, the ethical tensions involved and how grass roots options can be optimised. All of the above students can bring significant experience to the project, with salaries funded through Australian and Bangladesh scholarships. This however does not include expenses such as airfares, etc. It is maintained that the overlapping expertise and focus of these students, within the framework of a single project, is compatible with this integrated island development concept.
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR APPLICATION OF SOLAR ENERGY (CASE)The International Centre for Application of Solar Energy (CASE) was established by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to promote the sustainable application of renewable energy technology in developing countries. Based in Perth, CASE is supported by the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments and while a number of research centres have been established for renewable energy, CASE is unique in that its principle focus is on marketing renewable energy. CASE has a strong commitment to poverty alleviation and to the uptake of environmentally sound technologies. It has concentrated its activities on isolated and rural communities who have limited or no access to electric power and who are most appropriate for renewable energy installations due to their inaccessibility to national electricity grids. In designing projects, CASE places importance on ensuring that the technology used is appropriate to local social and economic conditions and undertakes steps to enhance the benefits that energy can provide, for example through the establishment of cottage industries. TIDAL ENERGY AUSTRALIA (TEA)TEA is a West Australian company involved in the development of tidal generation opportunities. Currently the company is the principal promoter of an innovative tidal scheme in the North West of the State. Parallels can be drawn between this project and that of the Bangladesh proposal, where a tidal development and the production of electricity lead directly to other economic opportunities and downstream regional social benefits. The collective expertise of the members of the organisation provide cutting edge knowledge available to assist the Bangladesh project. ReplicationThe details of the replication of this project will need to be established firstly to other sites on Sandwip and then to other islands. However, the "lessons learned" in the design, resource and community mobilisation, institutional capacity building project management will be invaluable. Observers will also be keenly interested in project management details for example, dealing with island access, logistics of equipment transfer, field communications for experts, occupational health and safety, recruitment and organisation of local workers, gender and environmental aspects, etc. Once tested on Sandwip using this concept of integrated coastal management and development, the potential is there to shift to other parts of Bangladesh's 710 km of coast. There are large-scale barrages and sluice gates along much of the coast. Bangladesh is a culture based on water and coastal management. This project will enable the country to test if it can add renewable energy to the myriad other uses it makes of its coastal resources. Comparison between Tidal Range and Assumed Inlet Height using Tidal Wheel Generator 
Side View of Tidal Wheel Generator Proposal 
Plan View of Tidal; Wheel Generator Proposal Questions
[1] Derby, Western Australia (accommodating an 11m tidal range) is currently subject to a project proposal to utilise this tide to generate 48 MW of power. The project proponents are Tidal Energy Australia (TEA), who will be the main technical consultants on this project for Bangladesh.
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