While changing the direction of the power sector, attention was drawn to installing a Floating Solar System on the Diyawanna Lake to generate power for Parliament, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.

The first phase of the first Floating Solar power plant is planned to be built in Diyawanna with the assistance of a loan from the Government of India.

"The floating solar power plant with a capacity of 1.5 MW is proposed to be constructed to meet the daily electricity requirements of the Parliament premises. The preliminary feasibility study is currently underway," he said.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has initiated a number of renewable energy projects covering the entire island to provide uninterrupted, quality and affordable sustainable electricity supply to consumers, achieving the objective of increasing the renewable energy contribution to the power sector by 70% by the year 2030, Minister Alahapperuma said 

"The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is to conduct feasibility studies focusing on the relevant reservoirs. The CEB will select the reservoirs with the maximum capacity and it has been suggested that the minimum capacity should be 100 MW," the Minister added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)