An approach to increase the power output of Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station: A step to sustainable development in Bangladesh’s energy sector

Abstract

Renewable energy has become the most prominent source of energy to reduce carbon emissions around the globe. Undoubtedly, hydro energy is very much clean energy among other sources. In Bangladesh, hydro energy is available only in a specific southern area contributing several hundred megawatts to the national grid. This paper devotes to assessing the capacity and practicability of a hydropower plant to boost the power output by implementing the combined cycle hydropower system. The proposed method has been developed by 1) studying the existing plant based on surveyed data, 2) selecting the site for installing the hydrokinetic turbine, 3) designing with consideration of numerous constraints of inter dependability, and 4) creating a prototype model to ensure the practicability. Preliminary results show that a significant amount of additional electric energy can be generated from the plant with higher efficiency.