Sri Lanka receives about 40% of its energy from hydroelectric sources; all the potentials offered by the exploitation of marine currents confirms the country’s will in considering water as a precious energy resource. Under this perpsective, the governative delegation, led by the Minister for Energy, W.D.J. Seneviratne, with the General Vice-Director of Sri Lanka’s national energy company, K.S.P. Jayawardena, met Elio Matacena, president of Ponte di Archimede International, in the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Rome, hosted by Ambassador E. Rodney M. Perera.
Also Mr. Daniel Rossi of ITPO UNIDO Italy (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), responsible for Environment, and Minister Wimal Hemachandra (the meeting promotor), trade consultant for the Embassy, took part in the meeting.
During the cordial meeting, Eng. Helena Ericsson, from PdA, illustrated the Kobold turbine’s important capabilities. The Kobold turbine, an Italian technology, has been patented by PdA for producing electric energy through marine currents. UNIDO is supporting this technology in order to spread it through Asian countries, starting with Indonesia, the People’s Republic of China and the Philippines. The world’s first prototype is now providing renewable marine energy to the electric grid of the city of Messina in Italy.
Further research is currently under progress with the aim to design and manufacture turbine units able to deliver electric power up to 1 Mw, when positioned in sites with adeguate currents, like those mainly found in Ocean Straits. The selection of suitable sites off-shore Sri Lanka, will represent the first step in extending the UNIDO project to another Asian country, which is suffering for the spiral rise of oil costs, on its balance of payments.
“I consider this meeting as a highly positive first approach – Elio Matacena said, president of Ponte di Archimede International and inventor of the Kobold turbine. Such beginning will be followed by scientific contacts with oceanographic researchers from Sri Lanka, responsible for finding suitable locations for the positioning of the new technology.
On the business side there will be a research for local public and private partnerships, interested in participating in the UNIDO program for the spreading of the Kobold.”
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