COPENHAGEN: After introducing wind energy to Sri Lanka with a demonstration project 19 years ago, Vestas, the market leader in wind energy technology from Denmark, will install the country’s first large scale wind park, the 104 MW Mannar Wind Power Project.
A press release from the Danish firm said that the order includes Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and is placed by Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the main utility company of Sri Lanka. The order represents the first large scale wind project ever planned in the country as previous projects were in the range of 10 to 15 MW.
Located on Mannar Island in Sri Lanka, Vestas will provide the Mannar Wind Power Project Phase 1 with delivery, installation and commissioning of 30 V126-3.45 MW wind turbines, as well as civil and electrical work. The project will also include full scope Active Output Management 4000 (AOM 4000) based service agreement as well as a Vestas Online® Business SCADA solution.
The order was awarded through an international tender, which underlines Vestas’ broad range of capabilities and solutions that can provide low cost wind energy across the globe. The 104MW Mannar mega-farm was conceived by CEB and is fully funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“We are very excited with this order and the opportunity to be back in Sri Lanka”, said Clive Turton, President of Vestas Asia Pacific. “This tender signifies a clear indication of CEB and local policymakers’ intention to promote sustainable energy sources as well as increase the mix of sustainable energy in the local grid. Vestas looks forward to working together with our local partners and the local authorities towards this common goal.”
Construction activities are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2019, and the project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.
The energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions,Vestas designs, manufactures, installs, and services wind turbines across the globe, and has installed 97 GW of wind turbines in 79 countries. Vestas, which employs more than 24,400 people around the world, has predicted that by 2020 as much as 10 per cent of the world’s electricity consumption will be satisfied by energy from the wind.
