30 MW wind power joins national grid

The Power and Energy Ministry said yesterday that another 30 megawatts of electricity through wind power will be added to the national grid from Thursday (09).

According to the Ministry, 30 megawatts of power is generated through three wind power plants in Kalpitiya of northwestern coast. The three plants will generate 90 gigawatts hours per year.

The government aims to increase the wind power generation capacity to 63 megawatts with the expertise of local engineers. The estimated local investment is 7.2 billion rupees.

The Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka says the government will develop the wind power as an energy source to meet the country’s requirement, especially to supply power to many remote villages.

Accordingly, the government hopes to add 400 megawatts of wind power electricity to the national grid by the year 2020.

Sri Lanka’s national energy policies and strategies aim to produce 10 percent of the country’s electricity requirements by 2015through nonconventional renewable-energy sources such as wind power, solar power, and bio gas.