Japanese consortium to invest US $ 15mn in solar power plant

From left: Tokyo Kyodo Accounting Director Yoshikazu Noda, Shibatasyoji Co. Limited Director Tatsuhiro Shibata, Sawada Co. Director Hiroki Sawada, TAD Lanka Investments Director Atheeq Ansar, WQ Inc. Director Steffen Studeny, Sierra Holdings Director Frank Irugalbandara and Tokyo Kyodo Accounting Partner Ryutaro Uchiyama at the official signing ceremony.

A US $ 15 million project for the establishment of a solar power plant in Sri Lanka is underway with investments from three Japanese companies through a Japanese consortium.

The three companies—Shibatasyoji Co. Ltd, Sawada Co. Ltd and WQ Inc.—are renowned for their extensive expertise in establishing solar power plants in Japan. Shibatasyoji Co. Ltd and Sawada Co. Ltd are the main investors while WQ Inc. will be providing the main components to the project.

The Japanese experts have conducted a series of extensive research in this field, concluding that Sri Lanka is one of the most viable countries for solar power.  In addition, the Sri Lankan government’s announcement in 2015 vesting its interest to establish a series of solar power plants in the country gave it the needed boost in laying the groundwork for this project.

The project is in partnership with TAD Lanka Investments (TAD), the local facilitating partner for the project, and Sierra Technology Holdings, a subsidiary company of Sierra Holdings, the local EPC partner for the project.

 The official signing ceremony took place on February 3 between the Japanese consortium and the two local entities with the initial commitment of establishing a 10 MW solar power plant with an investment of US $ 10 million and an added pledge to invest US $ 150 million in 100 MW solar power plant in the future.

The decision for the pledge will depend on the success on this primary effort, which will be monitored closely.   The target is to establish the project within a maximum time frame of 18 months, which depends entirely on the Sri Lankan government’s willingness to issue Standard Power Purchase Agreements to potential investors.

“This project will set the benchmark for future projects of this calibre in Sri Lanka paving the way to meet the impending power crisis and we are willing to give our unstinted support towards reaching success in this field,” remarked a representative of the Japanese consortium.

“TAD Lanka Investments is proud to be involved in this gigantic venture, which provides the country with stability and certain growth in the technology that promotes the usage of sustainable and renewable energy. It also addresses the crisis at hand, while opening variable opportunities for further investment to Sri Lanka in this area,” commented TAD Director/CEO Atheeq Ansar.  TAD was founded in May 2016 for the main purpose of streamlining and safeguarding all types of foreign investments and investors channelled to Sri Lanka.

During its brief period of operation, TAD has in effect successfully streamlined many significant investments and continues to gain a reputation as a top-notch company among its ever-growing clientele.

This project is a welcome effort as experts predict Sri Lanka is to face a power crisis in 2018 due to the inability to cope with the high demand for power. Such projects are of vital importance to improving the stability and infrastructure of the country.

With the government focusing on securing more foreign direct investments to the country, encouraging such projects will benefit Sri Lanka in the long term and encourage more investors to follow suit. Therefore, the importance of this project and the pledge to invest more solely depends on the success of this premier project.

Source,07/02/2017,Dailymirror  – See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Japanese-consortium-to-invest-US-mn-in-solar-power-plant–123372.html#sthash.ar2MNpqa.dpuf

Sea wave electricity soon: Minister

The Power and Renewable Energy Ministry today said the Finnish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Rauli Suikkanen had agreed to provide the latest technology to generate electricity from sea waves to the country. He expressed this at a special discussion with Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya at the Ministry. “Our country is surrounded with sea and therefore we can generate electricity using sea waves easily. We can determine the capacity of electricity which can be generated. The projects can be launched with the latest technology with minimal cost. Therefore the electricity can be used during the dry seasons,” the minister said. (Chaturanga Pradeep) Source-08/02/2017,Dailymirror, See more

Source-07/02/2017,Dailymirror, See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Sea-wave-electricity-soon-Minister-123443.html#sthash.oTnuSLqO.dpuf