SRI LANKA FIRST

NEPC Micon chairman, Ravi Prakash Khemka, has kept to his pledge made three years ago to become an exporter of wind power components to neighbouring countries. Sri Lanka is to be NEPC's first overseas customer. Following negotiations with the Ceylon Ministry of Irrigation, Power and Energy, led by secretary of state Tilak Ranaviraja, and with officials of the Ministry of Policy Planning and the Ceylon Electricity Board, NEPC Micon has been awarded a 1.25 MW wind power project in southern Sri Lanka, expected to be commissioned by the middle of the year. The wind farm will be operated and maintained by NEPC Micon, while the power generated will be sold to the Ceylon Electricity Board. This is the first project of its kind to be awarded by the Sri Lankan government and will be the country's first wind farm. According to NEPC, wind data collected by the Ceylon Electricity Board suggests that sites on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, such as Hambantota and Bundala, have good potential for wind power generation. The company is looking at the feasibility of other export projects in the Maldives, Malaysia and Indonesia.