The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has endorsed a US$200m loan for the development of a 100 MW wind park project in Sri Lanka. The funds will be lend to the Ceylon Electricity Board under the framework of a sovereign guarantee. The Ceylon Electricity Board will provide US$56.7m out of the total project cost of US$256.7m. The estimated completion date for the project is currently set for the end of 2021.
The country recently boosted its national electrification rate from 29% in 1990 up to 99% in 2016 but still struggles to meet the growing demand. The current capacity consists mostly of thermal coal-fired and oil-fired power generation and the authorities are trying to develop renewable energy sources such as solar PV and wind. The country’s aim is to increase the share of these renewable energy sources (RES) up to about 20% of the total generation capacity by 2020.