Sri Lanka to prepare tenders for offshore wind

ESMAP, which is a World Bank-associated organisation that helps developing countries ‘to address their energy challenges’, says the Sri Lankan government commissioned it to come up with the plan to help the country hit a target of generating 70% of its electricity by renewable energy sources by 2030.

The paper warns of ‘a series of technical and economic challenges’ looming on the horizon as ‘the nation steels itself for this transformative leap’, for instance the relatively low demand for electricity meaning that returns on investment might not be attractive for developers.

“The financial equation is further complicated as offshore wind projects, in general, bear a steeper cost compared to their onshore counterparts,” says the report in The Morning. “The complexity of offshore infrastructure, including the need for substations and transmission lines, escalates expenses.”

The World Bank, however, says the Sri Lankan economy could benefit from the move.

Its roadmap identifies two of Sri Lanka’s four major ports – Colombo and Hambantota – as suitable to support the installation of bottom-fixed offshore wind farms ‘with only minor upgrades’.

“Major upgrades, primarily dredging and creation of storage yards, would be required to use the ports of Trincomalee and Kankasenuthurai,” the roadmap says.

“In terms of installation ports for floating foundations, the port requirements differ greatly among different floating foundation concepts even though there are only a few leading floater technologies. Due to these differences and lack of installation track record, a global, representative port requirements benchmarks for floating wind installation cannot yet be derived.”

One major reason for stepping into offshore wind is Sri Lanka’s dependence on importing fossil fuels, ’which places a large burden on its foreign reserves’, the World Bank says, saying that the depletion of these reserves led to the economic crisis of 2022.

“Transitioning to domestic sources of energy, particularly renewable energy, can help to reduce the burden and reduce the trade imbalance, thereby benefitting the economy,” it says. “Furthermore, the development of offshore wind could provide a substantial contribution to the economy; for example, over the lifetime of a 500 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm, the Sri Lankan economy could benefit from approximately US$570 million of gross value added through local investment and employment. This could build on Sri Lanka’s maritime heritage and marine capabilities, helping to diversify the local industry, shipyards and port facilities.”