TITLE:
Estimation of the Stability of a River Island and Its Suitability for Installing Solar Based Power Plant in Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Md. Golam Muktadir, Md. Muhtasim Billah, Anika Samm-A, Farzana Rahman, Nusrat Jahan Shimu, Mahmudul Hasan, Intehum Taufique Aurnab, Mehedi Hasan Peas
KEYWORDS:
Jamuna River Island, GIS-DSAS, GIS-AHP, Stability, Suitability
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.12 No.11,
November
19,
2024
ABSTRACT: Bangladesh, situated in tropical and subtropical regions, receives significant amount of solar energy, making it an ideal location for solar energy production. However, determining suitable sites in the country for solar based power plant establishment turns out to be a difficult task given its dense population. This study aims to the identification of such a potential site by assessing the stability of the Jamuna river Island to be proposed as a site for developing solar based power plant. The research concentrates on Fulchhari union of Gaibandha district, one of the three major islands in the Jamuna river, utilizing two GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. One is Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) for stability analysis, and another is Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for suitability evaluation. For the stability analysis of the island, Landsat satellite imagery of 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 covering a long term of 30 years period were investigated. Based on average change rates, the bankline of the island was divided into 2 accretion zones in the south and south-eastern direction, and 8 erosion zones. Along with the bankline changes, climatological, geomorphological, and environmental factors have been adopted to modeling process for suitability analysis. The optimal locations for solar based power plants have been demonstrated by a suitability map, where high and standard potential area is about 60% of the area of Fulchhari union. Production may be enhanced up to 5 times more with the consideration of utilizing the moderate optimum zone.