Adani withdraws from controversial wind energy venture

Indian industrialist Gautam Adani’s Inexperienced Vitality Restricted (AGEL) has withdrawn from the second part of a proposed wind power project in northern Sri Lanka. The venture, which was deliberate to generate 250 MW by way of the set up of 52 wind generators in Mannar within the island nation’s north, confronted sturdy opposition for the reason that starting because of critical environmental implications and allegations of monetary irregularities.

Whereas renewable vitality is a vital want within the period of local weather change, Sri Lankan environmentalists opposed the venture, citing potential ecological injury to the delicate Mannar area. Moreover, issues arose over the way in which the contract was awarded, with no aggressive bidding course of.

The previous authorities, led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, had inked an settlement with AGEL, setting the facility buy worth at $0.82 per unit for 20 years. This charge was considerably increased than charges sometimes provided by native corporations. “This is a rise of about 70%, a scandalous deal that needs to be investigated,” stated Rohan Pethiyagoda, a globally recognised taxonomist and former deputy chair of the IUCN’s Species Survival Fee.

Authorized battles

5 lawsuits had been filed in opposition to this venture by native environmental organisations, together with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, the Centre for Environmental Justice and the Environmental Foundation Ltd. In January, the newly elected authorities expressed its need to cancel the preliminary settlement and to renegotiate its phrases and situations, citing the excessive electrical energy tariff. Environmentalists welcomed the choice, believing the venture could be scrapped completely. Nonetheless, their reduction was short-lived when AGEL clarified that the venture itself was not cancelled, solely the tariff settlement.

Authorities spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa later confirmed that the venture would proceed after renegotiating a decrease energy buy charge. Nonetheless, two weeks later, AGEL introduced its full withdrawal from the venture, a call extensively believed to be influenced by the federal government’s stance.

Wind vitality potential 

Sri Lanka has been exploring wind vitality potential for greater than 20 years, with the primary large-scale wind farm in Mannar named Thambapavani commissioned in 2020. This facility, comprising 30 wind generators, at present generates 100 MW of energy. With an extra 20 generators deliberate, the Mannar wind sector would have surpassed 100 towers.

The Adani Group had pledged an funding totalling $442 million, and already, $5 million has been spent in predevelopment actions. On February 15, the Adani Group formally introduced its determination to depart the venture. In an announcement, the group said: “We might respectfully withdraw from the stated venture. As we bow out, we want to reaffirm that we might at all times be accessible for the Sri Lankan authorities to have us undertake any improvement alternative.”

Environmentalists argue that Mannar, a fragile peninsula linked to the mainland by a slender land strip, can’t maintain such in depth improvement. “If constructed, this venture would exceed the carrying capability of the island,” Pethiyagoda famous.

Mannar is just not solely a rising tourism hub, identified for its pristine seashores and archaeological websites, but additionally Sri Lanka’s most necessary hen migration hall. Because the final landmass alongside the Central Asian Flyway, the area hosts tens of millions of migratory birds, together with 20 globally threatened species, he added.

Sampath Seneviratne of the College of Colombo, who has performed satellite tv for pc monitoring analysis on migratory birds, highlighted the worldwide significance of Mannar. “Some birds that winter right here have house ranges so far as the Arctic Circle,” he stated. His research has proven how extensively these birds depend on the Mannar Peninsula.

Though mitigation measures equivalent to hen monitoring radar have been proposed to scale back turbine collisions, energy strains distributing electrical energy stay a big risk, significantly to species like flamingos, a serious attraction in Mannar. The ability strains distributing electrical energy from the already established wind farm close to the Vankalai Ramsar Wetland and are already confirmed to be a dying entice for unsuspecting feathered variety.

Nature-based tourism

Given Mannar’s ecological significance, conservationists say the area has better potential as a vacation spot for ecotourism moderately than large-scale industrial tasks. “Mannar’s wealthy biodiversity and historic worth make it preferrred for nature-friendly tourism, which might additionally profit the area people,” Pethiyagoda added.

With AGEL’s withdrawal, Sri Lanka now faces the problem of balancing its renewable vitality ambitions with environmental conservation. Nonetheless, there are different websites in Sri Lanka having extra wind energy potential, and Sri Lankan environmentalists hope ecologically wealthy Mannar shall be spared from unsustainable wind farms tasks.

Watch: [Video] Complexities of siting a windfarm within the Western Ghats

This story was reported by Mongabay’s International crew and first printed here on our Mongabay International web site on February 21, 2025.

Banner picture: A flock of migratory brown-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus) in Mannar with windmills in background. Picture courtesy of Lahiru Walpita.