Sri Lanka has set ambitious targets to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix. Therefore, implementing the projects in the scale of 100 MW are very important in realizing this national renewable energy development target of achieving 70% electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2030. However, large scale renewable energy projects have not been developed, with the exception of the CEB Mannar Wind Project. In order to meet the targets set by the Government for RE, significant scale up in RE development and subsequent investments will be necessary.
Accordingly, Renewable Energy Resource assessment studies have been completed for biomass energy, hydro energy, solar energy and wave energy. In addition to these, some of the emerging resources such as ocean energy, geo-thermal energy, etc. are also available in the country. Resource assessment pertinent to these resources will be published at a later stage once the resource assessment of the particular energy resources is completed.
A comprehensive wind resource assessment with updated and reliable information is required for policy makers to initiate necessary strategic actions and developers to develop power generation projects. Resource assessment for Sri Lanka will be done by using satellite data in the WASP software. Results from these modelling will be verified against the ground measurement data.
Wind resource stations are turn-key systems for wind-resource assessments and power performance. These stations have a wide range of devices for measuring wind speed, wind direction, air density, air temperature and incidence of solar radiation.
Obtaining actual on-site wind measurement which will essentially be prerequisite for the investor needs even though there are indirect methods like satellite measurements. In this context SLSEA will provide bankable data creating investor friendly environment through risk minimization. This is achieved through undertaking a wind measuring campaign that complies with international standards. Consequently, the data will be analyzed and resource maps required for wind power project formulation will be developed.
We are planned to operate a network of national reference stations, which have been positioned in promising wind resource sites. Accordingly, two wind measuring masts will be commissioned at the end of March 2022 and one wind measuring mast has installed in Nadukuda area.
Click here to view the wind measuring mast locations
Click here to download wind data for several wind measuring stations
Sri Lanka receives considerable amounts of solar radiation, due to the location of the country close to the equator. However, a significant spatial differentiation can be observed between the lowlands and mountain regions. The strength of solar radiation is affected in mountain areas due to the presence of frequent cloud cover. Solar resource availability is generally measured using Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI). GHI varies from 1,247 kWh/m2 to 2,106 kWh/m2 in different geographical areas of the country. The power generation capacity using solar power is calculated considering typical efficiencies of solar PV in converting solar resource into electricity. Thus, annual PV electric potential (kWh/peak kW) is used to measure the power generation potential using solar resource.
With this background two weather stations had been installed in Hambantota and Kilinochchi area with the financial support of Asian Development Bank. Further a weather station has been installed in the site for proposed solar power project in siyambalanduwa and it will provide the data on Solar irradiance (GTI, DHI, GHI), Wind speed, Wind direction, Temperature, Humidity, Rainfall, Pressure and Dust.
Currently we are in the process of rehabilitation of Automated Weather Stations (AWS) owned and operated by Department of Meteorology. The weather data of this stations will be available from the second quarter of 2022.
Click here to view the AWS locations
Click here to download solar data for Siyambalanduwa Weather station
The Hydro Resource Atlas for the country is important for policy making and development of hydro energy resources. This provides a database to facilitate the site selection process. The resource availability has already been mapped, which will be scaled up to incorporate the overall hydro resource assessment island wide and would be published in the near future.
Sri Lanka as an island, has been observed as a good candidate for wave energy. An assessment on wave energy resources was conducted in collaboration with University of Peradeniya. Sea wave patterns were studied using the available field data obtained from local and foreign institutes. Further, a wave characteristic model for Sri Lanka was developed and the resource potential assessment was carried out using the particular wave characteristic model.
