The Green Energy Champion (GEC) Sri Lanka competition, held for the third successive year, concluded recently recognising three winners from among the nine promising candidates that were shortlisted who showcased creative renewable energy solutions.
Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the competition was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Power, Energy and Business Development of Sri Lanka and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.
The GEC 2019 sought islandwide entries from impressive and novel renewable energy solutions that could improve energy efficiency and function as best-practice models for sustainable energy particularly in serving the day-to-day needs of local communities.
From the shortlisted nine proposals, three Green Energy Champions were selected, one from the government, private and civil society/community based organisation sector categories respectively. Each winner was awarded technical equipment and support worth Rs. 4 Mln.
In the government sector, the winning entry was the Kuliyapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha, a local authority in the Kurunegala district. With a vision to conceptualise a new ’Green City’, the authority proposed the decentralization of waste management through the division of land plots, setting up a rooftop solar system at the authority premises and also working with the community to set up a biogas system to manage household waste.
Winning in the private sector category was Thermal R Industries (Pvt) Ltd, a start-up enterprise set up with the support of the University of Moratuwa. The entity won praise for their proposal to convert five existing 2-stroke three-wheelers to electric drive. Having verified the financial benefits, the company aims to set up a workshop for electric three-wheel conversion promoting the business in the future.
The Sabaragamua Janatha Padanma won in the community based organisation sector category. Their proposal included a host of renewable energy projects the surrounding areas such as the restoration of a micro hydro system, installation of a solar PV roof top system at a local school, set up street lighting system using hydro and installing a solar dryer for community usage.
The eminent jury for the competition included His Excellency Jörn Rohde, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Sulakshana Jayawardena, Director Development), Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, Dr. Asanka S. Rodrigo, Director General, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, S.P.K. Amarasinghe, Director/Principal, Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute and Andreas Hergenröther, Chief Delegate, German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka.