Sri Lanka’s first ocean wave power plant to be set up in Matara

The new regime is going ahead with the development of the country’s first ocean wave power plant in Matara, in partnership with Blackbird International Corporation, MirrorBusiness reliably learns.

The Israeli company, through its subsidiary S. D. E. Ltd. had received approval for the renewable energy project from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) last October, earlier reports said.

The initial plant would have a capacity of 10 Megawatts, while 10 additional plants to be set up consequently, which is a reduction of scope from initial negotiations for 20 plants in October.

S. D. E. Founder Shmuel Ovadia had said that its local subsidiary S. D. E. Sri Lanka (Pvt) Ltd would sell power to CEB at 10 cents per unit, and the company would recover its investment within 4 years.

Sri Lanka, through its 3 new plants will rely on the cheaper coal option for the foreseeable future, which costs around Rs. 7 to generate a unit. However, ocean wave power generation costs less than Rs. 5 per unit.

It remains to be seen whether the new regime will re-negotiate the power purchase agreement.

Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka has an ambitious plan of making Sri Lanka self-reliant on energy by 2025 with the exploitation of the Mannar Basin gas fields, while rapidly developing renewable energies to make Sri Lanka completely sustainable by 2030.

(CW)