Sri Lanka has agreed to purchase power at $0.0826, or 8.26 cents, per kWh from Adani Green Energy, which is executing a wind power project in Mannar and Pooneryn in the island’s Northern Province.
On Monday, the Cabinet cleared a proposal for a 20-year power purchase agreement with Adani Green Energy for the development of wind power stations to produce 484 MW of power. “On the current exchange rate considered as, $1 = ₹300, the cost of energy will be ₹24.78 per kWh. The current average cost of energy in Sri Lanka is ₹39.02 per kWh,” Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said on social media platform ‘X’ on Tuesday.
While he said Sri Lanka will pay in LKR (Sri Lankan Rupee), based on the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment, details of clauses on possible revision in rates are awaited.
Expansion plans
Sri Lanka generates about 4,200 MW of power a year and authorities have pledged to add another 2,800 MW to the national grid through renewable energy sources over the next three years. In 25 years, the island nation aims to generate 100 per cent of its energy through renewable energy.
The $442-million wind power plant in northern Sri Lanka is the Adani Group’s second major investment in Sri Lanka, after its $700 million investment in the West Container Terminal at the strategic Colombo port.
The proposed renewable energy plant in the Northern Province earlier sparked controversy over the process followed by Colombo to select the company. More recently, residents of Mannar and environmentalists voiced apprehension that the project could adversely impact biodiversity and local livelihoods in the area. Authorities and Adani Green, in turn, said they had factored in environmental considerations before finalising the project.
Apart from the partnership in green energy, India and Sri Lanka are exploring setting up high-capacity power grid interconnection between the countries. In February, the India – Sri Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) for cooperation in the Power sector met in Colombo for its 5th round of discussions. A proposal to link Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province and Chennai is in discussion, through land cables and undersea transmission.
Meera Srinivasan is the The Hindu Correspondent in Colombo