Green Energy Champion 2019 winners showcase creative renewable solutions

Friday, 22 November 2019 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The jury members Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Jörn Rohde, Sulakshana Jayawardena, Dr. Asanka S. Rodrigo, S.P.K. Amarasinghe, Andreas Hergenröther and the GIZ GEC 2019 team along with the winners from the three categories

The Green Energy Champion (GEC) Sri Lanka competition, held for the third successive year, concluded recently recognising three winners from among the nine promising candidates that were shortlisted who showcased creative renewable energy solutions.

Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the competition was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Power, Energy and Business Development of Sri Lanka and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.

The GEC 2019 sought islandwide entries from impressive and novel renewable energy solutions that could improve energy efficiency and function as best-practice models for sustainable energy particularly in serving the day-to-day needs of local communities.

From the shortlisted nine proposals, three Green Energy Champions were selected, one from the government, private and civil society/community based organisation sector categories respectively. Each winner was awarded technical equipment and support worth Rs. 4 million.

In the government sector, the winning entry was the Kuliyapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha, a local authority in the Kurunegala district. With a vision to conceptualise a new ‘Green City’, the authority proposed the decentralisation of waste management through the division of land plots, setting up a rooftop solar system at the authority premises and also working with the community to set up a biogas system to manage household waste.

Winning in the private sector category was Thermal R Industries Ltd., a start-up enterprise set up with the support of the University of Moratuwa. The entity won praise for their proposal to convert five existing 2-stroke three-wheelers to electric drive. Having verified the financial benefits, the company aims to set up a workshop for electric three-wheel conversion promoting the business in the future.

The Sabaragamua Janatha Padanma won in the community based organisation sector category. Their proposal included a host of renewable energy projects the surrounding areas such as the restoration of a micro hydro system, installation of a solar PV roof top system at a local school, set up street lighting system using hydro and installing a solar dryer for community usage.

The eminent jury for the competition included Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Jörn Rohde, Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Director Development Sulakshana Jayawardena, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Director General Dr. Asanka S. Rodrigo, Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute Director/Principal S.P.K. Amarasinghe, and German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Sri Lanka Chief Delegate Andreas Hergenröther.