Land acquisition begins for Adani wind power project; hi-tech system to protect birdlife

The government has started the acquisition of lands, most of which are privately owned, for the Adanibacked 250MW Mannar Wind Power Project (MWPP), its final environment impact assessment (EIA) report states.

The report crucially emphasises the need for strong measures—even proposing a sophisticated radar system to signal when the turbines need to be shut down—to mitigate the effect of the project on Mannar’s rich and diverse birdlife.

This is especially important because “higher bird risk collisions than predicted” have occurred in the adjoining Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB)-run Thamabapawani Wind Power Project, with birds striking the transmission lines, it warns.

The Power and Energy Ministry awarded the construction and operation of the MWWP to Adani Green Energy Sri Lanka Limited (AGESL) as a build, own, and operate (BOO) project. The approximate investment is US$ 420 million.

The 52 wind turbines will each have a capacity of 5.2MW. They will be installed in parallel with the existing Thambapawani wind farm, across most parts of Mannar Island. Once operational, MWWP is expected to generate 1,048GWh of energy per year—or around six percent of Sri Lanka’s requirement.

The EIA was conducted within the “Energy Development Area” declared by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) in April 2014. The required land area of 201.98 hectares, including access roads, will be acquired by the SLSEA and leased to AGESL longterm.

Mannar is a hotspot for birds. Its mudflats are feeding grounds for shorebirds during the migratory period, and large numbers of them transform the landscape into a unique habitat. It is also home to native aquatic and semi-aquatic birds, while some species use these areas as breeding grounds.

There are three protected areas around the proposed MWPP—the Adam's Bridge National Park, the Vidataltivu Nature Reserve and the Vankalai Sanctuary, which is a Ramsar site. Talaimannar and Adam’s Bridge are sanctuaries for water birds, especially annual migrants.

The Gulf of Mannar region is a “Central Asian flyway”—a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. It is a major entry and exit point for migrants, with thousands reaching Mannar Island through this flyway, after which they disperse to the interior of the country.

When leaving at the end of the migratory season, these birds use Mannar as their last staging point before departure. More than 30% of the birds recorded in Sri Lanka (over 150 species) have been observed in this region. And there are more than 200,000 water birds during the migratory period.

Avifaunal surveys in the project site and its environs over the past few years and as part of the EIA recorded a total of 283 species (verified)— including 148 confirmed residents, inclusive of four endemics, and 81 confirmed migrant species.

Twenty-seven of them are classified as nationally threatened, and there are 13 critically endangered species, three endangered species, 11 vulnerable species, and 15 nearthreatened species. Two species—the Great Knot and the Woolly-Necked Stork—are listed as globally threatened. Six are globally near-threatened species.

“The wind turbines can be shut down to prevent a collision event,” the EIA proposes as a mitigation measure (assuming a worst-case scenario)—a process of “halting wind turbines to reduce the risk of bird mortality”. One or more turbines could be stopped based on inputs from human observers or through an automated avian radar system.

“When turbine shutdown with radar is in effect, the radar uses realtime information to create a signal,” the EIA points out. “This information is collected beforehand to create a ruling for the mechanism. This means that the wind turbines only shut down for the exact amount of time they must, reducing the overall impact on shutdown times, energy production, and costs.”