Solar power boost to National Grid

Chamikara Weerasinghe

Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka yesterday said they have arranged to introduce the first main grid connected solar power plant in the Hambantota District.

This will be the first step towards promoting solar energy in Sri Lanka, the minister said. The project will add 1.5 mega watts to the national grid, he said.

Japan and Korea will fund the project under the Solar Power Park Project in Hambantota, said Power and Energy Ministry sources.

The Japanese government will release Rs 12,000 million while the Korean government will release Rs 513 million for the first phase alone. Minister Ranawaka said the solar power plant will be opened during this month and added the envisioned project is expected to cut down the high costs associated with fossil fuel power generation.

“It is expected to save several thousand millions of rupees spent on diesel and petrol to produce power,” he added.

There are many individual solar power panels and projects in the country but none of them connected to the national grid, he said.