Sri Lanka’s first thrash-fired power plant inaugurated

By Ifham Nizam

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday inaugurated the first ever power plant that produces electricity from solid waste incineration.

The plant is expected to utilise 700 tonnes of garbage daily and add 10 megawatts to the national grid. The Colombo Municipal Council’s solid waste division would supply garbage on a daily basis for the project. Aitken Spence Group has spent Rs. 15 billion to construct the plant in Kerawalapitiya. The group is confident of converting between 600 and 800 tonnes of Colombo waste into energy.

Power and Energy Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that it was a crucial moment in the energy revolution here. “What we are doing today is not just reviving the national power system. This event will go down in history as a giant step towards the dream of a beautiful nation that loves the environment.”

Speaking at the handing over of the first solid waste power plant at Kerawalapitiya to the nation, Alahapperuma said that providing lasting solutions to the country’s energy problem by developing renewable energy in line with the vision of prosperity could be described as an ideal solution to the country’s waste problem as well.

“When we entered the 21st century, we had only hydropower and thermal power, but as we entered the second decade of the 21st century, a lot of changes have taken place. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is a leader who has made many decisions beneficial to the country Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister  C.B. Ratnayake, State Minister of Solar, Wind and Hydro Generation Projects Development Duminda Dissanayake, State Minister of Urban Development, Coast Conservation Waste Disposal and Community Sanitation Nalaka Godahewa, State Minister of Skills Development, Vocational Education Research and Innovation Nimal Lanza, Governor of the Western Province Roshan Goonetileke, Mayor of Colombo Rosy Senanayake, Chairman of Aitken Spence Harry Jayawardena, Power and Energy Ministry, Secretary Wasantha Perera and CEB Chairman Vijitha Herath were also present.