Finland ready to help Lanka in tapping power from sea

Finland is ready to provide Sri Lanka with the experience and technology to generate power from the sea waves and a power generation programme will be implemented in the island country next year, said John Liljelund, chief executive officer, Finland’s AW Energy. Liljelund made this statement when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the AW Energy on a study tour on Monday.Prime Minister Wickremesinghe led a delegation to tour the facility to learn about the technology and observed the state-of-the-art equipment manufactured by the company for power generation through sea waves. During the tour, Liljelund said they are ready to support the production of wave power in the Sri Lankan waters and all the surveys in the coastal area around Sri Lanka have been completed. They expect to begin power generation next year, the CEO stressed. Wave energy is the largest untapped form of renewable energy in the world and is on track to produce 10% of the global energy demand in the upcoming decades, according to AW Energy. The environmentally friendly wave energy can easily be utilised to generate electricity, seawater treatment, and pumping water. According to the research done so far, the Indian Ocean is considered as a wave power generation region. The Finnish company has developed several products and procedures to tap wave energy and the Sri Lankan delegation has gained a basic understanding of their functioning during the visit. The prime minister, who commenced his official state visit to Finland on Sunday with a 10-member Sri Lankan delegation, held a special discussion with the officials of the Fortum Waste Solutions which is experienced in waste management and recycling for industries, cities and communities.The Sri Lankan delegation discussed the ways modern technology is used to manage waste and new trends in waste management and was able to learn about Fortum’s procedures used in waste management and recycling. The premier also met with the Finland’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health Pirkko Mattila yesterday. The Finnish minister hosted the premier and the delegation to dinner and had extensive discussions on issues of mutual interest to the two countries.During the discussions, Minister Mattila offered fullest support of Finland to expand the bilateral relationship in the development and enterprise fields between the two countries.