12 October 2022 02:46 am Views - 683
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara with Windforce team
Renewable energy producer WindForce PLC marks yet another milestone with the opening of 10MW agrovoltaic plant, the Solar Universe. The plant was commissioned on September 28 and was officially opened by Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday.
The construction of the 10MW ground mounted solar power plant started in September 2021 and was commissioned 10 months later. Being an agrovoltaic plant, Solar Universe is the first of its kind for the company, as well as for Sri Lanka.
Agrovoltaic plants combine the growth of agricultural crops with solar power production, optimising the use of land to increase its efficiency. Seeing that both solar power plants and agricultural crops need to be located in areas with access to ample levels of sunlight, the concept of agrovoltaic plants caters to the needs of the two sectors.
The Solar Universe plant, located in Vavunathivu, will consist of plots of land allocated to local farmers. After considering the climate and soil profile in the area, crops such as peanuts, green chillies, beans, turnips and watermelons are already in the process of being grown. This agrovoltaic plant supports the company’s efforts towards normalising the use of renewable energy and creating a sustainable environment, in addition to increasing food production and creating a livelihood for the local communities.
WindForce PLC holds 33.33 percent stake in the new Solar Universe plant, which will additionally increase the company’s solar portfolio to 134.6 MW. The company is simultaneously in the midst of constructing their latest wind power plant, Hiruras Power, in Mannar. This 15MW (10+5) wind power plant is expected to be completed by the end of December, 2022. This will increase the company’s wind portfolio to 84.2 MW.
Overall, with the addition of Solar Universe and Hiruras Power, WindForce’s total installed capacity will increase to 245MW by the end of FY22/23 with an effective capacity of 146.5MW.