Adani set to commence new project in Mannar next week!

The Adani Group of India has agreed to a massive US $ 1 billion 1000 MW wind power project and the proposal for the project will be submitted to the next Cabinet for approval, the Ceylon Electricity Board said.

As a Board of Investment of Sri Lanka project, this investment is made available to the country in accordance with the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Act.

The government has taken a policy decision to source 70 percent of the country's total electricity generation by 2030 from environmentally friendly renewable energy sources giving priority to LNG (Liquefied natural gas) power plants.

The engineers say that since Sri Lanka does not have the funds to implement such a large wind power project in Mannar, there is nothing wrong with constructing power plants in this manner with foreign investment and that the Ceylon Electricity Board should have the right to operate those power plants when the relevant agreements are signed.

They also said that the construction of low cost power plants is essential as the CEB is currently incurring a loss of around Rs. 90 billion due to the purchase of electricity from expensive diesel power plants to meet the demand for electricity in the country.

According to the CEB Engineers, it costs around Rs. 25-30 to produce a unit of electricity from a diesel power plant compared to around Rs. 15 per unit from a wind power plant.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will continue to incur losses due to having to buy power at higher prices and sell them to consumers at lower prices, and it is estimated that if 70 percent of electricity could be obtained from renewable sources by 2030, it would save the country around Rs. 5 billion annually.

Adani India has commenced development work on the Western Terminal of the Colombo Port and is in the process of handing over the Mannar Wind Power Plant project to the same company.