COLOMBO: India and Sri Lanka have reached an agreement to jointly build a 135-megawatt solar power plant in two stages to promote renewable energy in the island nation's eastern port district of Trincomalee.
Approval for the project has been accorded by the Sri Lankan Cabinet as the country aims to generate 70 per cent of its electricity requirement from renewable energy sources by 2030.
A note from the Cabinet meeting held this week said, "The National Thermal Power Corporation of India and the Ceylon Electricity Board have entered into an agreement to jointly implement a solar power project in two stages."
In the first stage of this project, a solar power project of 50 megawatts is expected to be implemented with a total estimated investment of USD 42.5 million and to construct a 220 kilowatts transmission line with 40-km length from Sampoor to Kappalthure spending USD 23.6 million, the note said.
The note further added that it is expected to complete this stage in two years from 2024 to 2025.
During the second stage of this project, a solar power generation plant with an additional 85 megawatts is expected to be constructed under a total investment of USD 72 million.
The Indian government is keen to promote and strengthen cooperation in the renewable energy sector by operating and facilitating power generation projects and it has expressed willingness in utilising solar and wind power, along with coastal wind and biomass, it was said.
Continuous transmission of infrastructure is being envisaged by India, which it will also provide in places where agreed mutually in Sri Lanka, including the northern and eastern provinces in cooperation with private and state entrepreneurs in India and Sri Lanka, the statement from the two countries read.
An agreement with NTPC in 2013 to build a thermal power plant in Sampur was later abandoned after objections to the environmental hazards of using coal for power generation were raised.
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