Sri Lanka’s largest and the first ever state owned wind power plant was declared open by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Mannar yesterday (09). The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) controlled wind power plant was constructed on a US$ 200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Although the project was planned by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014 in his capacity as the then President of Sri Lanka, most of the work was carried out under the previous Yahapalana administration.
The Mannar Wind Power Project, which is at least a year behind its schedule, will add 100 MW to the national grid, according to the Ministry of Power.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has incurred millions of rupees due to the delay in commissioning the wind power project.
The contract has been awarded by the CEB to Vestas Asia Pacific AS, a world-renowned Danish wind turbine manufacturer, to build the first large-scale wind farm in Sri Lanka in the southern coast of Mannar Island.
The project comprises 30 state-of-the-art wind turbines, each rated to 3.45 MW. The total installed capacity of this wind farm is 103.5 MW.
The Mannar Wind Power Project recently completed the final main gravity foundation along with the erection of the 10th wind turbine.
The primary contractor, Vestas Asia Pacific, along with their specialist civil engineering contractor, Access Engineering PLC, has achieved satisfactory progress amidst challenging conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project work commenced in March 2019.
The CEB is considering installing six more turbines to produce an additional 20 MW of power with the remaining funds from the ADB.
Minister Gammanpila said that the power plant was constructed to use fossil and reusable energy for power generation in Sri Lanka, adding that it will further help safeguard the country’s foreign exchange, he said.
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