Pooneryn Renewable Energy Park project to ‘green’ Northern Province

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

An awareness meeting on the proposed Pooneryn Wind Solar Energy Park project was held at the Conference Hall of the District Secretariat office, Jaffna last week.

Northern Province Governor Jeevan Thyagaraja was the Chief Guest at the event which also saw the participation of Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Chairman Eng. Ranjith Sepala, District Secretary Jaffna K. Mahesan, Additional District Secretary Jaffna M. Piratheepan, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Director (Systems and Planning) Anuruddha Kariyawasam, Engineers and Architect Ltd. Consultant Thewarasa Krishnaraja, and relevant Government officers from Kilinochchi District.

The proposed Pooneryn Wind Solar Energy Park project would be the largest renewable energy based power generation project in a single location in Sri Lanka when completed all its phases that comprises a 100 MW wind power project (Phase 1), a 133 MW wind power project (Phase 2) and a 150 MW solar power project (Phase 3).

The project site is located in Pooneryn peninsular, a narrow land strip projected to the Jaffna lagoon in Kilinochchi District and expected to be connected to the national grid within the period of 2024-2026.

Governor Jeevan Thyagaraja addressing the gathering, said that his aim was to make the Northern Province a Green Zone and that the proposed Project would be a great help in this regard. Further he stressed that all house owners to be a green producer and play the role of customers and producer in this nature should be welcomed by the people and officers in the region.

Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Chairman Eng. Ranjith Sepala presented the way to achieve the policy target of generating 70% power from renewable energy resources by 2030 in line with the Government’s vision, the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour. By responding to the several concerns by participants, he assured that, all the environmental and social related issues will be addressed through the ongoing Environmental and Social Impact Assessment conducted in compliance to the national and international good practices and standards.

Further he assured that the project will bring definite benefit to the people in the region and priority will be given to the skilled and unskilled labour force in the area when there is a demand for construction and operation related jobs to uplift the social values of the Northern Province.