Renewable energy producer WindForce PLC marked another milestone with the commissioning of a 10MW agrivoltaic plant, Solar Universe. The plant was commissioned on September 28 and was opened by Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera last week.
The construction of this 10MW ground mounted solar power plant started in September 2021. Being an agrivoltaic plant, Solar Universe is the first of its kind for the company, and for Sri Lanka, a company spokesman said.
Agrivoltaic plants combine the growth of agricultural crops with solar power production, optimising the use of land to increase its efficiency. Seeing that both solar power plants and agricultural crops need to be located in areas with access to ample levels of sunlight, the concept of agrovoltaic plants caters to the needs of two sectors.
The Solar Universe plant in Vavunathivu, will consist of plots of land allocated to local farmers who may tend to the crops they grow and subsequently sell their harvests; paving the way for an additional source of income for them. After considering the climate and soil profile in the area, crops such as peanuts, green chillies, beans, turnips and watermelons are already in the process of being grown.
WindForce PLC holds a 33.33% stake in the Solar Universe plant, which will increase the company’s solar portfolio to 134.6 MW. The company is simultaneously in the midst of constructing its latest wind power plant, Hiruras Power, in Mannar. This 15MW (10+5) wind power plant is expected to be completed by the end of this year. This will increase the company’s wind portfolio to 84.2 MW.
Overall, with the addition of Solar Universe and Hiruras Power, WindForce’s total installed capacity will increase to 245MW by the end of FY22/23 with an effective capacity of 146.5MW.