Sri Lanka taps into wind energy to reduce power cuts

Sri Lanka added wind power to its national grid on Thursday in a bid to reduce power cuts that are ongoing in 58 cities around the country including the capital city, an official said.

Sri Lanka is currently suffering from a serious drought that has brought down its hydro power generation to below 10 percent, Power and Energy Ministry spokesman D. Ramanayake told media.

“For the first time in three years, 30 Mega Watts of wind power was added onto the national grid in an effort to reduce the power cuts,” Ramanayake said.

Earlier last month the government was forced to cut power for three hours in many parts of the country for five days.

The meteorological department has stated that Sri Lanka’s seasonal monsoon rains would only begin in late September creating a challenge for the government on how to meet the country’s power needs.

“During the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed a special committee to study the matter and submit a report on what steps can be taken. They were told to pay special attention to power generation and access to drinking water, ” Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told a press conference.

Over 66,000 families are affected by the drought according to him and the government has already allocated 28 million U.S. dollars to help them.

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