H’tota Wind Farm to be removed

The Hambantota Wind Farm, the only CEB-owned wind power plant, which was commissioned in 1999, is being disassembled to be removed owing to the high amount of rent the CEB has to pay for the land and also due to its less efficiency, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.

The CEB said that it did not have any concrete decision as of yet on relocating the towers at a separate land.

According to unconfirmed sources, the CEB had to pay a colossal amount of Rs. 23 million as rent to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for the land, following the agreement signed between the Chinese Company and the SLPA to lease out the Hambantota Port and several adjacent land plots.

CEB Spokesperson Sulakshana Jayawardena said both the wind power plant and its technology were outdated and that it was not viable to maintain the plant by paying a higher rent.

“There are five towers at the farm but only three are operational at the moment.

“It is not practical to have it at that particular location while paying a rent to the SLPA. If you make a high amount as a rent while maintaining the power plant which provides the only 3MW to the grid, the purpose is lost.

“Not having this plant will make no significant impact on the system. No point in keeping the power plant as it is. Power plants too have life spans. When the time comes, the efficiency goes down.

“Having considered the economic and the technological requirements and other aspects, the CEB decided to remove the towers,” he told the Daily Mirror.

He said the CEB had a plan to relocate the wind towers at a land of the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) at Hambantota, where there was also a solar power plant, but added the plan was not final.

“The Director General of the SEA said they are planning to put up wind towers at this particular land but they are thinking about the cost. Hopefully, we will be able to install them at the solar park but it depends on how feasible and economically viable it is,” he said.

Defending the move to remove the towers, he said the towers are not performing at an efficient level.

“The plant was put up at the late 90s. The relocation depends on how feasible it is to reinstall them somewhere else because there is a cost to dismantle and also to reinstall. However, the CEB is removing the towers in a systematic manner so then we can reinstall it at another place if we want and can,” Mr Jayawardena said.

However, employees of the Wind Farm and CEB Trade Unions expressed sentiments against the move to remove the wind farm claiming it could incur an additional cost to the state.

“The move to remove wind towers by spending millions of rupees and probably sell them for scrap metal is absurd. The CEB could have simply relocated the towers at a separate land. If that is not a viable option, the CEB should have allowed a private firm to remove it at their expense. As of Wednesday, the operations of all five wind towers had been terminated,” an employee said.

They charged the CEB was bringing in technicians from India coupled with heavy machinery by spending Rs.45 million to remove the towers.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the CEB Employees' Union Ranjan Jayalal said the CEB, which is unable to pay the rent any more, was attempting to remove wind towers from the land for scrap metal.

The CEB rejected the allegations and said it called for tenders following the procedures to remove the wind towers.

“We evaluated the proposals received and then selected the most benefited company to do the job,” it said.

The Hambantota Wind Farm is Sri Lanka’s first commissioned wind farm and it was constructed with both state and foreign funds. (Lahiru Pothmulla)