Travel
Sri Lanka's first Net Metered Hotel:
Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara- opens
Aitken Spence Hotels its first hotel property, Neptune Hotel,
recently re-opened as Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara. Leveraging on
innovative strategies in the area of renewable energy the Hotel recently
broke new ground by being the first hotel in the country to enter into a
Net Metering Agreement using solar photovoltaic as the renewable energy
source.
The Government of Sri Lanka approved the concept of Net Metering in
August 2009. In early 2010, LECO was the first to announce the new
procedure. Net Metering is a special metering and billing agreement
entered between utility companies and their individual customers which
facilitates the connection of small, renewable energy generating systems
to the power grid.
Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara. |
Solar Photovoltaic Systems can be broadly connected either as an
Off-Grid System (solar power used to charge batteries) or an On-Grid
System (solar power fed directly to the grid). The system installed at
Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara is a unique design having both features
integrated into a single system.
During the day, the power produced from the solar panels is used to
charge the batteries as well as feed power to the grid. This has been
achieved by increasing the capacity of the solar panels so that excess
power is generated, more than required to charge the batteries. Once the
batteries are fully charged, excess generated power is fed to the grid
via the netmeter. During the night, the charged batteries are used to
power the hotel garden lighting. The annual savings from the system is
4,639 kWh, equivalent to a reduction in the hotel's carbon footprint by
3.4 Tonnes.
In addition, the hotel also has a solar hot water system for
pre-heating the water before it is sent to the heat exchanger which acts
as a storage for hot water. This reduces the furnace oil consumed by the
boiler. The hotel will be saving 1,417 litres of furnace oil annually
thus mitigating its carbon footprint by 4.6 Tonnes.
The biogas plant uses kitchen garbage as the primary source for the
production of biogas which is utilized in the herbal preparation unit of
the ayurveda resort.
"It is encouraging that Aitken Spence Hotels has taken the initiative
in implementing the first net metering installation in the LECO
distribution network with renewable generation. We hope that other
private establishments will follow suit and thus reduce the carbon
burden on the environment," said Head of Engineering, Lanka Electricity
Company (Pvt) Ltd Dr. Narendra De Silva. By adopting net metering,
Heritance Hotels further reaffirms their commitment towards practising
sustainable tourism.
"The installation of systems such as this help break our dependency
on fossil fuels, add to the diversification of our current energy
portfolio and most importantly helps lessen the environmental footprint
associated with electricity generation and consumption. We all have
worked extremely hard in order to maintain our existing sustainability
practices while constantly coming up with new and innovative ways of
enhancing the edge we have on the sustainability front, and we are
delighted to be the first hotel in Sri Lanka to enter into a Net
Metering agreement with the Lanka Electricity Company," said Vice
President, Engineering, Aitken Spence Hotels Rohitha Rajaratne.
Heritance Hotels and Resorts believe passionately in Sustainable
Tourism and have been very active in engaging both guests and
communities in promoting these ethics.
"All forms of tourism potentially has an environmental, social and
economical impact on a country, we at Aitken Spence Hotels take all
necessary measures to negate any detrimental impact a guest may have on
the environment while holidaying with us," said Managing Director,
Aitken Spence Hotels Malin Hapugoda.
The company's premier resorts operate under Heritance Hotels &
Resorts. Its latest Heritance property, Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara,
commenced operation in July 2011.
It has joined the award-winning Heritance Hotels & Resorts portfolio
consisting of Heritance Kandalama, Heritance Ahungalla and Heritance Tea
Factory.
Siam House wins Best Restaurant award
Siam
House, the authentic Thai food restaurant in Colombo, has been awarded
"The Best Restaurant" tittle by the Municipal Council of Colombo in
recognition of the excellence in cleanliness and food hygiene.
"The Best Restaurant" Award for excellence in cleanliness and food
hygiene received recently by this famous food destination show their
commitment to provide their clients with a happy and memorable dining
experience.
Siam House received this prestigious award at the Awards Ceremony
held at Hilton Hotel, Colombo on 8th December 2011.
Siam House, in operation since 1993, has always deserved its place as
a top favourite among its loyal clientele of corporate and family
diners, tourists and all other fashionable elite.
Surrounded by a peaceful atmosphere filled with sea breeze, Siam
House Colombo lets the Diners enjoy authentic Thai cuisine in their
enchanting Thai House.
SriLankan Airlines launches easy payment scheme
An exciting new offer from SriLankan Airlines will make travel abroad
even more affordable to all their customers. With the introduction of an
easy payment scheme, passengers have the option of paying for their
ticket with credit cards, in installments of three, six, twelve or even
upto twenty four months at their convenience.
Under this scheme, people can now travel abroad for initial rates as
low as LKR 725 per month to India, LKR 2,000 per month to many cities in
Asia, and LKR 4,000 per month to Europe. These attractive rates make
family travel more affordable enabling all SriLankans to experience an
overseas trip with their loved ones during the upcoming holiday season.
Passengers can now purchase their tickets online www.srilankan.com
using a credit card issued by any of the partner banks and thereby make
the payment at their convenience through the easy payment scheme. The
partner banks are - Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, HSBC, Seylan Bank
and Hatton National Bank. Head of Commercial Operations, Mohamad Fazeel
said, "The primary purpose of this facility is to enable more people to
indulge in the pleasures of air travel. With all the benefits of modern
technology, the world is shrinking at a rapid pace. However there is
still a segment of people in this country who think twice before
embarking on a foreign trip because of the cost factor. We've turned
that around and with this new offer on our website we have brought the
world to their doorstep".
With air travel now becoming even more affordable with the
introduction of the easy payment scheme, the SriLankan Airlines website
- www.srilankan.com is expected to emerge as the most preferred channel
for air ticket purchases.
"This facility is open to all Sri Lankans in all income groups. In
fact we have a great relationship with our partner banks and this makes
it all the more easier and convenient. As the national carrier and a
responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to make air travel more
affordable and more accessible to as many Sri Lankan consumers as
possible." Manager Channel Management, Ajith Weerasekera said.
Sri Lanka's award winning airline flies to six cities in Europe -
London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Moscow, Middle East - Kuwait,
Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha,
Subcontinent region - Karachi, Male, Colombo, Madras, Trichy, Trivandrum,
Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi and the Far East - Singapore, Kuala
Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tokyo.
SriLankan's latest destination will be Zurich, with a thrice-weekly
service that commences on December 23. |