{"id":109523,"date":"2020-12-08T17:38:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T00:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=109523"},"modified":"2020-12-08T17:38:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T00:38:37","slug":"wind-power-to-our-rescue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/12\/08\/wind-power-to-our-rescue-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind Power to our Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Our Minister for Power is\nover the moon with the opening of the Mannar 100MW Wind Farm today(8\/12\/20) by\nno less a person than our Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Wind Farm as well as\nthe Puttlam Wind Power  Plant which a is\nalready open prove to the hilt that Sri Lanka can find all its energy\nrequirements through wind power within two to three years at most.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once long ago I stayed a\nnight at the Ohio Forest Department Circuit bungalow. I was scared that my car\nwill be blown off. The winds were that strong. Having worked in Hambantota\nwhere there is hardly any wind power, \nwhere our experts sited the first wind turbines, perhaps with the idea\nof proving that wind power is not feasible and also having worked in Nuwara\nEliya where one has to be extremely careful not to be blown off by the wind, I\nhave been  convinced that all our power\nrequirements can be found from the wind, which abounds in our country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once touring the hills of\nCalifornia in my son\u2019s Nissan Z 200, I saw the thousands of wind turbines at\nAltamont Pass. I stopped and gazed at the turbines for an easy fifteen\nminutes  wondering what my eyes really\ndid see. I could hardly imagine what I saw. This made me research further.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My interest made me write\npapers proving that wind power is feasible and thanks to the editors of LMD,\nthe Island and Lankaweb the papers saw the light of day. Finally my interest\nended with a book: Wind Power for Sri Lanka\u2019s Energy Requirements,  published in 2019 by Godages. As usual I\nsubmitted  copies to both our new Hon\nPresident and our Prime Minister- the books must be somewhere unread and\nunknown. Recently I sent a copy to our Minister Mr Dulles Alahapperuma and I\nhope he will have a read of it at least now that the Wind Turbines at Mannar\nand Puttlam have caused him to open his eyes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It so happened that one of\nmy papers in The Island somehow reached Mr Kanaga, the foreign engineer who\nset  up the wind turbines at Hambantota\nwho replied stating that the problem with Sri Lanka is that we are not siting\nthe wind turbines in the hilly country where there is plenty of wind and we\nsite them only on the coast where there is only a sea breeze.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enclose sections of the\nConclusion of my book on wind power where I have invoked our leaders to decide\nto set up wind turbines in our hilly country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me end my paper making\na definite statement that Sri Lanka can easily be self sufficient in all the\npower we need-some 2700 MW within two to three years at most and it will be a\nfeather in the cap of President Gotabhaya and Prime Minister Mahinda. This\nrequires very little foreign exchange as the towers and blades can be locally\nmade-I have seen these been made by locals in Spain. It is only the motor that\nneeds to be imported till a \u2018Jinasena\u2019 can make that too  in our country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entirety of the GalOya\nProject was accomplished within five years and building a few hundred wind\nturbines will be an easier task. I speak as an experienced administrator and\nmany of us  have worked in  charge of successful development programmes.\nI designed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh in\n1982, a programme that has withstood the sands of time by creating three\nmillion self employed youths. This is to tell my readers that what I write is\nnot fiction. It is fact and if called upon, I will prove every statement of\nmine. Anyone is invited to visit the nooks and corners of Bangladesh to see the\nlargest forced of \u2018economists’ in action- the youth workers who were trained by\nme in economic concepts and methods of extension. I enclose the Conclusion of\nmy book on wind power with the firm hope that this paper will reach our leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By using the power of the\nwind offered free to us by Mother Nature, the country will not depend on the\nsupply of coal and oil for power plants and the country can save all the\nmillions and billions  being spent today\nto import oil and coal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly it will provide\nemployment for thousands in erecting the turbine towers, in establishing the\nwind turbines and in the manufacture of the turbine mechanism itself at the\nlater stages. In my travels in France, Spain and Portugal I have seen workers\nmaking  the towers, blades, transporting\nthem in long trucks, erecting the towers and maintaining them. That is no\ndifficult task for our engineers and workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 One of my readers happened to be an engineer,\nMr Kanaga. who was involved with establishing the five wind turbines at\nHambantota, the first to be built in Sri lanka. What is most interesting in his\ncomment which I have totally enclosed in this book, is that the  environmental lobby had decided that the\nturbines should only be erected on the coasts and not in the mountains where\nthere is ample wind force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is sad that the\nenvironmentalists were silent when the entire Kotmale Valley was denuded of\npeople and their activities all to create 200 MW of power. That could have been\neasily achieved with fifty wind turbines scattered within Kotmale itself and\nthe inhabitants and the economy would have been spared extintion. The entirety\nof Kotmale is dead today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many opine that wind is\nundependable.  To them my answer is that\nthe wind is an utterly dependable source of energy. Spain has gone all out to\nbuild wind turbines and even sells power to France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reader of my Papers,\nSusantha Wijeytileke has even commented that once at Madugoda he saw a cyclist\nbeing blown off the road by the power of the wind.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must mention that I am\nnot alone in advocating the siting of wind turbines in the mountainous areas of\nSri Lanka.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Windfair, on line  editorial journalist  Trevor Sievert  quotes Lakshman Guruswamy, Sri Lanka has the\npotential to generate 24,000 MW electricity from wind.\u201d (http:\/\/w3.windfair.net\/wind-energy\/news\/1q543-sri-lanka-high-wind-energy-potential<\/a>)\nProfessor Guruswamy further states that studies have shown that nearly 5000\nsquare KM of windy areas are available for potential wind power generation in\nSri  Lanka.\u201d (Dated 12\/04\/2018.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In  www.windpower.lk<\/a>,\nit is stated that in wind power the potential for Sri Lanka  is 20,740MW\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind\nPower in Sri Lanka,a publication by The Asia\nBusiness Office (\/\/www.asiabiomass.jp\/English\/topics\/1601_04.html) states that\nthe wind potential in Sri Lanka is 20,740 MW. In  its words there is strong potential for\nwind power in the North Western coastal regions of Northern Province, the\nhighland areas of the Central Province, Sabaragamuwa and Uva.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  In Sri Lanka Wind farm Analysis and Site\nSelection Assitance,  M. Young and R\nVilhauer of The Global Energy Concept, Kirkland, Washington state: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has considerable available land with wind resource\npotential<\/em> sufficient for development. However, the  wind power capacity expansion is limited by\nthe electricity transmission infrastructure. CEB estimates that the grid cannot\naccommodate additional wind capacity more thgan 7% of the peak load. The CEB\nestimates that  installing more than 20MW\nof wind capacity in any given region may adversely impact local grid\ninstability and power quality. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Study  states that the windy land   can provide 50,000 MW.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note\nthat it is not the lack of wind power that holds up the utilization of wind\npower to produce electricity. Instead it is the grid capacity. Tackling the\ngrid capacity is another kettle of fish. This is an area that has to be\naddressed. I will not be surprised if our \nexperts who yet think that wind turbines should be built to harness the\nsea breeze and not the wind power in our mountains  will come up with another cock and bull story\nstating that a grid cannot be built.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My thanks are also due to\nthe Editor of the Sunday Observer.lk who in Let there be Light” (Sunday\nObserver:06\/09\/2009) commented that my suggestions are very valuable. Referring\ntro my suggestion that the wind power in the Central Highlands should be\nharnessed says, This is a timely and valid proposal and the authorities\nshould take  appropriate action to locate\nwind turbines in  areas which will enable\nthem to reach their maximum potential.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study proves  beyond all doubt that there is ample wind\ncapacity in Sri Lanka for self sufficiency in our power requirements through\nharnessing the wind.. There is no question about this. However, as in any field\nof development, be it agriculture or industry, there are problems that have to\nbe surmounted.  As stated the national\ngrid has to be developed to carry the power from areas where it is generated to\nthe areas where the power is consumed. Perhaps there can be local grids to\ncarry the power generated from  a local\nwind farm to a local district capital. For instance if wind farms are located\nin Dela on the Kirigalpotta hillock, a grid can carry the power to the town of\nRatnapura. In every district- and I have worked in many and have traveled all\nover- there are many rugged hillocks which are inhabitable and will never be\nused except to put up some pylons and structures like wind turbines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am dead certain that Sri Lanka can become self\nsufficient in all its power requirements not for its present stage but also for\nits future development through using wind power. The wind power in the Central\nand Sabaragamuwa Hills is vast. Methods and systems have to be found to harness\nthis energy. However as long as we build wind turbines on the coastal areas and\nignore the areas where there is real wind power and satisfy ourselves with\nstudies of the difficulties and constraints, \nour attempt will be like  that of\na squirrel trying to empty the water in the ocean , carrying a bit of water on\nits tail,  endless.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State\nUniversity, Former G.A.Matara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and\nAlternative Programmes of Success, Godages, 2006 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the IMF saboitaged Third World Development,\nGodages\/Kindle, 2017 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka,\nGodages,2012 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

08 12 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara\u00a0 Our Minister for Power is over the moon with the opening of the Mannar 100MW Wind Farm today(8\/12\/20) by no less a person than our Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.   This Wind Farm as well as the Puttlam Wind Power  Plant which a is already open prove to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}