The garment manufacturing ties of Sri Lankan renewables developer WindForce Ltd could drive it to invest in 20-50 MW of solar and wind power generation capacity in Bangladesh.
The developer's chief shareholder is garment manufacturer Hirdaramani, which employs around 25,000 workers in Bangladesh, and WindForce made its debut on the Sri Lankan stock exchange last week by announcing its intent to expand its overseas generation portfolio.
In the wake of an LKR3.2 billion ($16.4 million) float, Windforce MD Manjula Perera reportedly told local media the developer was interested in expanding into Bangladesh and Cameroon after recent ventures into the Senegalese clean power sector, and on top of its existing foreign portfolio.
With WindForce having 30% of its generation capacity in Uganda, Pakistan and Ukraine – and having secured a 30 MW solar plant in Senegal and tendered for a 100 MW project in Pakistan, Perera reportedly stated a desire to raise overseas generation to 40% of his company's renewables fleet.
Neither Perera nor WindForce chairman Ranil Pathirana have responded to pv magazine‘s requests for comment and chief financial officer Rizmin Razik would confirm only that the company is working on possible Bangladeshi renewables projects “in the early stage.”
The company has 218 MW of clean power generation capacity, 120.8 MW of which is in Sri Lanka, and is due to commission a 10 MW solar project in Uganda on May 10.
Of the money raised in the initial public offering, LKR2.31 billion ($11.8 million) has been allocated for a wind power project in Mannar Island, Sri Lanka and a solar plant in Senegal. Some of the remaining LKR890 million could be heading to Bangladesh, with the nation having attracted investment interest from developers in Saudi Arabia, the United States, India, China, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Canada, Norway, South Africa, China, and Hong Kong.
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