Ramesh Nanayakkara joins Biomass Supplies to create a green legacy in Sri Lanka

Ramesh Nanayakkara has joined Biomass Supplies as the Chief Operating Officer to drive the vision of the business to be the pioneering bioenergy company and thought leader in Sri Lanka. 

Biomass Supplies COO  Ramesh Nanayakkara

Biomass Supplies is part of the international Biomass Group, a vertically integrated renewable energy company that develops biomass resources for local industry, pellets and power. 

The business caters to the growing demand for deforestation-free, sustainable, certified fuelwood by local industry use. 

Ramesh brings in over 15 years of cross-industry experience from leading MNCs in FMCG, building materials to telecommunication. His expertise primarily spread across end to end supply chain management, business development, building collaborative partnerships and talent management.

Biomass Supplies has developed a unique outgrower model for biomass resource development in partnership with smallholder farmers and other supply partners.  The focus is on using gliricidia (a short rotation coppicing tree with manifold benefits) that is used for fencing, as a shade and support tree and the leaves can be used to make organic fertiliser, pesticides, fungicides and microbial cultures. 

Nanayakkara is a Chemical Engineer by profession graduated from University of Moratuwa. He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE UK) and a Senior Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) USA. 

He began his career at Nestle Lanka PLC, and then moved on to Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka, Holcim Lanka and Bharati Airtel during which he was involved in various capacities including engineering, logistics and procurement. In 2011, he joined Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) as the Supply Chain Planning, Procurement and Logistics Manager. In 2013, Nanayakkara was the Head of Production at CTC.  He moved overseas in 2016 on assignment to assume the comprehensive role of managing the Papua New Guinea plant of BAT (British American Tobacco). 

Nanayakkara has participated in numerous international Executive Development programs at leading universities and institutions – University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, IIM in India, and Stockholm University in Sweden. He is currently a visiting lecturer on Supply Chain Strategy at Department of Logistics and Transport at University of Moratuwa.

Biomass Supplies has been operating in Sri Lanka since March 2013. The company employs 65 staff today and has offices in Colombo, Puttalam and Polonnaruwa. It has accomplished several achievements and is starting to achieve global recognition. It was the first to earn the Swiss-based Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) certification in Asia and the first to register on the Verified Carbon Standard/Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (VCS/CCBS) from Sri Lanka. Last September, Biomass Group presented its work at the Evergreen Alliance conference during Climate Week in New York.

Commenting on his new endeavour, Nanayakkara said, “I consider it a great opportunity to join Biomass Supplies which is at the forefront of promoting renewable bio-energy in Sri Lanka. It is always a challenge to join a company at development stage, where there are challenges to scaling up the business but it is really exciting to be part of that journey. What is most interesting is that this business is addressing a critical market need – providing sustainable sourced, traceable fuelwood for the energy needs of industry. Both biomass and bio-energy have immense potential in Sri Lanka.”

Lucky Dissanayake, founder of Biomass Group, said: “We are excited to have Ramesh on-board to drive our vision. The Biomass Group will play a major role in shaping the energy nexus in this country and help build a solid green legacy for future generations in Sri Lanka.”