* Sri Lanka to open first wind energy plant
Fri, Mar 19, 2010, 08:06 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 19, Colombo: Sri Lanka's first commercial wind energy plant, will start its operations this month in Kalpitiya area of the Puttalam district in the North Western coast of the country.

The plant operated by a private enterprise, Senok Wind Power is located on a strip of land five-kilometer long and one-kilometer wide in the Kalpitiya area.

Senok Wind Power will use eight units of 1.25MW wind turbines from the Indian wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy to supply 10MW of wind turbine capacity. The plant is estimated to generate 28 million Kilo Watt hours of energy annually.

The location experiences winds in a north easterly direction from December to February and much stronger winds in a south westerly direction from May to September.

This is the first project to feature megawatt-class turbines in Sri Lanka's wind energy sector and also the first project by a private company.