The opening ceremony for a Solar Power Plant at Hambantota constructed by the Korean government and Korea International Corporation Agency (KOICA) was held on August 8, 2011.

The Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa, Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Choi Jong-Moon, KOICA Representative and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and other dignitaries were present at the ceremony.

The Korean government has set ¡°Low Carbon, Green Growth¡± strategy as a national goal and initiated a 5-year plan. As a part of the plan, KOICA established the East Asia Climate Partnership (EACP) to share Korea¡¯s knowhow and technology in the area of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability with developing countries through ODA projects.

Under EACP, KOICA has invested 3 million USD for the construction of a 500kw solar power plant which will be connected to the national grid system. This power plant is equipped with solar panel modules, inverters, transformers and computerized monitoring system by LG CNS. It currently generates average of 2 kW per day and provides electricity to more than 300 rural household in the region.

This plant is expected to solve the power shortage problem in the rural area, and also to strengthen the relationship in renewable energy sector between Korea and Sri Lanka.