Resus Energy connects first of its ground-mounted solar PV power plants to national grid

Views of the ground-mounted solar PV power plant

Diversifying its portfolio, Resus Energy PLC, a forerunner in renewable energy, operating a number of mini hydropower stations in Sri Lanka, recently connected the first of its ground-mounted solar PV plants to the national grid.

The development rights were secured from a Government tender floated under the Sooriya Bal-asangramaya program to procure 60 x 1MW Solar PV projects. With a total capacity of 2MW, built at a cost of over Rs. 300 million and equipped with tier-1 class solar PV panels, these are the first ground-mounted solar PV power stations connected to the Ampara grid-substation.  

With the Government further pledging to achieve 70% of the electricity generation from renewa-bles in 2030, Resus Energy Managing Director Kishan Nanayakkara said, “It is commendable that our Government has set an ambitious target to achieve a high-level of renewable energy generation. That showcases true interest to partner the global effort to combat climate change and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Resus Energy is happy to partake in fulfilling that dream.”

He added: “Sri Lanka being a signatory to the 2015-Paris Agreement on climate change, had pledged support for it and is thus obligated to adhere to the implementation of SDGs. The target set for renewables put us on the right course to achieve SDG 7 which is about the provision of Clean and Affordable Energy.”

Despite navigating through a difficult year hit by a global pandemic, leading to long lockdown peri-ods, Resus Energy continues to keep faith in its expansion drive and support the country’s renew-able energy drive and its economic liberation. In addition, Resus Energy had also commissioned a couple of mini hydropower stations in the recent past. 

Located in Kandy and Kegalle Districts, those add 2MW and 1.2MW respectively to the national grid. The company is also currently developing another mini hydropower project in the Nuwara Eliya District. Fed by Madulla Oya, a main tributary of Uma Oya, the project is built at an estimated cost of Rs. 700 m and expected to feed 2.4MW to the national grid from the middle of this year.

“As a company that is truly interested in people and the planet in pursuit of primary business goals, Resus Energy, believes in creating a shared value that benefits all its stakeholders. Towards this end, we consistently strive to ensure that our carbon footprint remains at an absolute minimal lev-el even as we scale up our operations. Resus gives priority to ensure that none of its operations have negative impacts on the environment,” Nanayakkara added.

With the recently grid-connected Solar PV and the mini hydropower stations, Resus Energy PLC now operates nine grid-connected power stations with an aggregated capacity of over 15MW with estimated annual energy generation standing over 45GWh. 

Over the last few years Resus Energy PLC has been consistently recognised for its successful ef-forts. The company and its subsidiaries have won Gold, Silver and Bronze at ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards, CA Sri Lanka Annual Report Awards and at The National Green Awards for num-ber of years.

Designed and developed using expert local knowledge, the latest technology and a true passion for nature conservation, Resus Energy projects are all planned and executed sustainably and re-sponsibly. All project development budgets also include a considerable portion to develop the sur-rounding communities of each project.