Lanka’s first Dendro power plant commissioning soon

Nimal Wijesinghe A'pura Additional District group correspondent

Sri Lanka's first dendro based power project will be commissioned soon at the hamlet of Kattimuruchchana in Thirappane Divisional Secretariat division in Anuradhapura district.

The Labunoruwa, Kattamurichchana Dendro power plant is expected to provide 2.5 MW of green electricity to the national grid by using gliricidia (Albesia) wood fuel. The plant was initiated and processed during the past three years by the Human and Community Youth Organization (HCDYO) at Labunoruwa in Thirappane under the patronage of Helios Thirappane Biopower Project Pvt Ltd incorporated with the Helios Renewable Energy Pvt and Emergent Venture India (EIV). The initial investment is Rs 380 million. Project Development Engineer P.R. Wijewardane told the Daily News that the construction work of Sri Lanka's first Dendro based power plant is completed.

This project will be upgraded to a capacity of 2.5 MW by April next year to provide 2,500 KW to the National grid, he said.

Around 1,000,000 Gliricidia saplings have been planted in Thirappane area with 3,000 farmer families participating in the cultivation process.

"The Kattamarichchan plant requires 110 tons of Gliricidia wood fuel per day. The annual wood fuel requirement is nearly 33,000 tons valued at Rs 110 million. The farmer families involved in the project will get an additional income of Rs 10,000 monthly per family through wood fuel sales. Organic fertilizer processing project and a plant based on Gliricidia leaf is being established with the assistance of the Agrarian Services Development Authorities.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

REGION: South Asian countries to work on power links

DHAKA: South Asian nations agreed on Thursday to work to promote closer energy links for electricity grids and power generation, a senior energy official said. Energy ministers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — bringing together Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — finished their meeting on Thursday. "To implement the decision a framework will be finalised by October this year," said Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, Bangladesh secretary for power division. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the meeting that SAARC members were politically committed to solve electricity shortages. 

She said that in this spirit Bangladesh was working on the SAARC grid interconnection between Bangladesh and India. "As this interconnection is established, it would be easier to establish connectivity with other SAARC member countries," she said. She added that Bangladesh planned to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity by the year of 2021. 

Mohammad Mejbahuddin, secretary of the energy and mineral resources division, said that Bangladesh is working on power links with India and Myanmar. "If we can utilise hydro power potential in Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar we could be self reliant on clean energy," he said. "The politico-economic developments in the world have placed energy security under the global spotlight," Mejbahuddin said. He said that energy price peaks had wreaked havoc with Bangladesh's economic stability. Azad confirmed that Bangladesh would be able to import electricity from India by the early of 2013. He told reporters after the fourth SAARC energy ministers meeting that in the region "we have natural gas, hydro power, coal and the expertise to generate renewable energy and if we can explore those potentials and can share effectively then will be able to reduce poverty, the ultimate goal of the nations." reuters

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728