The CEB, the executing and implementing agency for the project, will provide $56.7m of the total project cost of $256.7m.
The wind farm, to be constructed on Mannar Island, is part of the country’s plans to diversify power generation through clean, renewable energy sources and improve energy security and the environment.
The project will also provide internal cabling and access roads, energy dispatch control center, and reactors to manage voltage levels.
The project will enable CEB to act as a wind park developer to attract the private sector in future wind power generation projects, establish cost benchmarks, conduct competitive bidding for future wind power projects, and manage the flow of intermittent wind energy through the power system.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Although Sri Lanka has increased its electrification rate from 29% in 1990 to over 99% in 2016, affordability and reliable power supply remain major causes of concern.
The Sri Lankan government intends to boost renewables, excluding large hydro, to 20% of total power generation by the end of the decade.
ADB principal energy specialist Mukhtor Khamudkhanov said: “The new wind power generation project will not only provide access to a clean and reliable power supply in Sri Lanka, but also create an environment for further wind power development through future public-private partnerships.”
Image: The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Photo courtesy of Asian Development Bank.
