UNDP predicts ‘Fully Green’ Sri Lanka by 2050

A report has been issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasting a 100 percent green energy future for Sri Lanka by 2050.

According to Power Engineering International (PEI), the financial analyst has predicted that the country’s electricity generation capacity will increase from 3.7 GW to 34 GW over the coming decades. Accordingly, it is expected 15 GW is to be generated by wind energy harnessing power plants, 16 GW by solar power plants and the remainder will be generated from hydro-electricity and biomass plants paving the way for a ‘fully green’ Sri Lanka by 2050.

Researches of the UNDP have encouraged this initiative to reduce Sri Lanka’s reliance on fossil fuels. According to PEI the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy generation will reduce the country’s fuel import cost by approximately 18 billion USD.

Sri Lanka boldly pledged to strive towards clean energy when the nation adopted the ambitious voluntary goal at the UN climate change conference in Marrakesh in 2016 after becoming a signatory to the Paris Agreement along with 42 other countries.

The Director of ADB’s South Asia Energy Division Priyantha Wijayatunga stated that ADB would continue to enhance Sri Lanka’s transition to Green energy. He stated that proposals of a rooftop solar programme and large scale wind power projects illustrate the commit shown by ADB towards Sri Lanka. It was further stated that the report formulated is a shining global example on how to decentralize the governance of clean energy services.