Sri Lanka reinvigorates renewable energy with Indian assistance  

Sri Lanka is set to reinvigorate renewable energy sector in the island by according priority to solar energy with the aim of lighting rural homes inaccessible to electricity direct from the national grid.
Around 12,500 families are living in houses in remote rural areas which cannot be connected with direct power supply due to its poor conditions, Minister of Power and Energy Mahinda Amaraweera has disclosed in a media release adding that solar power will be the only source of energy to provide electricity for them.
He revealed that India has offered US$ 100 million concessional financing for undertaking solar projects in Sri Lanka and the local private sector should exploit this for the benefit of rural poor.  
Minister Amaraweera has also instructed the CEB officials to promptly commence work on 14 solar power projects which have already received cabinet approval and will add 96 MW to the national grid.
India’s largest power generation utility NTPC Ltd plans to set up this project in the island under the patronage of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), CEB sources said.
But the plan is still at its initial stage, a senior CEB official said. Pointing out that the Indian government is keen on getting this contract for NTPC Ltd as India is all set to cross the 100 GW renewable energy capacity mark this year.
State-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has an installed power generation capacity of around 35.8 gigawatts (GW).
India has been working on improving the energy infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Petronet LNG Ltd had earlier announced its plans of setting up a liquefied natural gas terminal in Trincomalee changing its original decision of setting up a US $500 coal power plant at the same site.
The proposed solar park follows after state-run NTPC Ltd’s plan to set up a coal power project in Trincomalee had been scrapped due to protests of environmentalists in the country.(BS)  
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