Investigating the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of grid-tied photovoltaic and on-shore wind systems in Bangladesh

Current power generation scenarios all over the world are not climate friendly as the generation systems are mainly dependent on fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gas (GHG). As renewable energies (especially solar and wind energies) have the sustainable characteristics, by replacing the conventional energy system with them, it is possible to significantly contribute to reducing the dependency on fossil fuels as well as GHG emissions. Though biomass is the primary renewable source in Bangladesh, this study is exploring new options in photovoltaic (PV) and on-shore wind in the 0.5-2 MW capacity range. This research presents environmental and socio-economic impacts of grid-connected hybrid (PV/wind) power systems by investigating the potentials of the solar and wind energy with considering various sensitivity variables for two different locations, namely Magnama and Dinajpur, in Bangladesh. The main goal of this research is to generate the lowest possible adverse socioeconomic and environmental impacts ensuring a certain degree of monetary benefits. Three sizes of plants have been chosen for quantifying the variations in socio-economic and environmental impacts. It is found that the proposed model of the hybrid power system can maximise the benefits by reducing the adverse effects of conventional power plants.