CEB calls for proposals to develop two 50MW wind farm facilities in Mullikulam – By Bernard Fernando
The captioned news item appearing in the press, a couple of days ago amidst talks on re-consideration of ‘Adani proposed wind farm’ in Mannar, prompted the writer to make the following observations on fundamental issues where Wind Power Projects (WPP) look unattractive compared to Solar Power Projects (SPP) in Sri Lanka’s context whether it be on Build, Operate and Own (BOO) or Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.
- Capital expenditure (Machinery and Construction) for Wind power projects are obviously higher due to CIF and local transport cost of Heavy Machinery and specialized labour requirement etc.
- Repair and Maintenance costs for Wind power projects are higher. (Need to access machinery located at higher altitudes using specialized machinery and labour etc.)
- The effects arising from vagaries of nature ( Rusting and Cyclones etc.)
- A specifically larger space is required for a wind farm where human habitat is discouraged.
- In its original form, the Wind power is more fluctuating than Solar Power which is a more permanent source of power.
- The storage problem appears to be common to both. However, I solicit technical opinion to throw light on the matter.
In order to save publisher’s space, I leave it to the readers to tax their ‘common sense’ or grey -matter to compare or extrapolate the above attributes in regard to Solar Power Projects and find the glaring differences which will ultimately be reflected in the Unit Price, the calculation of which is another grueling exercise involving several factors and arguable variants such as Mark up, Good will, ulterior motives and Geopolitics etc.
Bernard Fernando
Moratuwa
