Germany supports Sri Lanka’s path towards green energy future

It was no easy decision the jury comprising German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Jörn Rohde, Additional Secretary from the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy D.D. Amarathunga and representatives of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and from the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA) had to make.

Three months ago the Green Energy Champion competition was launched consecutively for the second year by The German Federal Foreign Office together with the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy of Sri Lanka, and the project implementing partner Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. 

Last year the aim of the Green Energy Champion project was to find the best idea formulated towards the use of renewable energy as well as the improvement of energy efficiency. 80 applications were submitted from community based organisations (CBOs), schools, household groups, government institutions and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). 

Five finalists were selected for the final round: Batticaloa Municipal Council, Kuliyapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha, Renewable Energy Systems Lanka Ltd., Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) and Diyagala Boys Town (DBT) together with the State Ministry of Science, Technology and Research Sri Lanka.

They all took part in a two-day workshop where their individual project concepts were presented for further adjustments under technical guidance. The workshop included sessions on project management as well as on technical and financial feasibility, public acceptance and communication. Based on those inputs the participants were able to fine-tune their concepts before presenting them to the jury members. 

After a very close jury decision the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was announced as Green Energy Champion 2017. SLIDA could convince the jury members with their integrated project proposal which aims at becoming a model training institute for the entire public sector in Sri Lanka. With the help of the Rs. 10 million provided through the German Government SLIDA is going to extend their existing Solar PV system, to install a biogas unit for its kitchen waste, to establish an urban composting garden and to promote home gardening, to install Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) keys and to develop an awareness training course for public sector managers.

In addition to the winning entry, the second ranked Diyagala Boys Town together with the State Ministry of Science, Technology and Research will be awarded with technical equipment and training worth up to Rs. 2.5 million and the third ranked Batticaloa Municipal Council with equipment worth up to Rs. 1.5 million. 

Jörn Rohde said, “Sri Lanka has similar ambitious Renewable Energy goals as Germany and we are happy to support the government’s vision. It was a very difficult job to identify the winner out of the top five ideas who are all winners and roles models on their own. This year instead of selecting one winner we have three winners based on the quality of proposals we received. I congratulate all the winners who truly are Green Energy Champions and we look forward to implementing the three project ideas.”

The project is a valuable contribution to support Sri Lanka’s ambitious energy targets – to increase the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources up to 50% by 2020.