Wind energy projects for rural Lanka

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

Singapore based green firm, Daily Life Renewable Energy (DLRE) will fund wind energy projects in remote areas in Sri Lanka with over US $ one million investment.

The company will be focusing on the telecommunication sector, in particular on wiring up the telecommunication base stations with renewable energy to complement diesel generators currently in place.

The DLRE will fund the projects and their share will be recovered in the long run by selling the product to relevant project partners.

DLRE Operations Manager Patricia Alvina said solar and wind energy generators do not need fuel and frequent maintenance and high pilferage rates.

This has raised a separate issue on real maintenance cost and the environmental issue. "Deployment on a large scale in the telecommunication sector is therefore viable and commercially sensible," she said.

Curtin University Australia Professor Chem Nayar, Guest Speaker at the workshop organized by DLRE on "High penetration renewable energy application, remote area power system," said there is tremendous potential for renewable energy in Sri Lanka which is highly underutilized.

"Sri Lanka needs huge investments for rural electrification which is in progress currently. But right policies by the Government is very vital to implement the projects". Remote areas are often beset with minimum infrastructure and more often than not non-existent electricity supply. Solar and wind energy produces electricity sufficient for remote areas and has been deployed in many parts of the world already.

"The solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity in the vicinity of 10KW thereabouts and is generally sufficient to meet the load requirements, which are often lighting, water pumps and communications gear," he said.

DLRE is involved in numerous renewable energy projects across the Asia Pacific Region. It has conducted needs assessment, policy structuring, financing and implementation for clients and Government bodies in Maldives, Australia and Thailand.

Wind turbines, solar applications, and hybrid generators are some of their principal products. ACMA Engineers in Sri Lanka is the country representative for DLRE.