Adani wind power project sparks concern in Sri Lanka’s Mannar district

Adani's controversial wind power project in Sri Lanka raises concerns over environmental impact and local livelihoods.

A wind power project being executed by Adani Green Energy in northern Sri Lanka has run into controversy, with locals and environmentalists raising concern over its possible impact on the coastal region and livelihoods.

In February last year, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment cleared the company’s $ 442-million project at two wind energy-rich sites in the island’s Northern Province. “The project expects to add 250 MW in Mannar and 234 MW in Pooneryn to the national grid,” Sri Lanka’s Minister for Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara said on social media platform ‘X’ on March 14, following a discussion with Adani Green’s Executive Director Sagar Adani on a power purchasing agreement that is yet to be finalised.

The Sri Lankan government aims to meet its growing energy demands with 70 % renewable energy by 2030. The ambitious target will require investment totalling over $ 11.5 billion, according to official estimates. In December 2023, Sri Lanka roped in Australia-based United Solar Group to invest US$ 1.73 billion in a 700 MW solar plant in the northern Kilinochchi district.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and residents of Mannar fear that the Adani wind energy project could spell danger to the biodiversity of the area and impact people’s livelihoods that are tied to the coastal environment. Scores of families in the island’s Tamil-majority north and east, are still struggling to rebuild their lives, with successive governments’ economic revival programmes proving futile for them 15 years since the civil war ended.

According to ornithologists, Mannar is part of the Central Asian Flyway, an important migration route for many waterbird species around the world. Every winter, thousands of flamingos arrive at wetlands in the district, drawing scores of birdwatchers and tourists. In a recent commentary on the wind project, Prof. Sampath S. Seneviratne from the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, called it “death trap” for migratory birds. “The proposed wind farm is located in the best forest areas in central Mannar island, which serve as vital stopover and refuelling sites for birds approaching Sri Lanka,” he wrote.

Around 50 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 5.2MW, are to be installed as part of the project. Such an installation would usually entail a rapid clearing of the canopy, according to Marynathan Edison, an environmentalist from Mannar. “No matter how much they talk about restoration and reforestation, it will not be the same,” he told The Hindu. While activists like him welcome Sri Lanka’s push for renewable energy, the move’s likely environmental impact could outweigh its benefits in the absence of careful planning and wider consultation, they contend.

“Preserving the bird corridor and the biodiversity is very important, but we should not forget the social environment and the impact such projects may have on that,” Mr. Edison further noted.