Sri Lankan cement producer Tokyo Cement has officially opened its second biomass power plant at Trincomalee in the presence of country president Maithripala Sirisena, Daily News (Sri Lanka) reported.

The Tokyo Eastern Biomass Plant began construction in 2015 with an investment of over LKR2.5bn (US$16.3m). The plant will contribute 70GWh per year to the national grid, generated using industrial and agricultural waste sourced through community trade.

In total, the plant will produce 160,000MW hours of clean renewable energy per year. SR Gnanam, Tokyo Cement MD, said this contributes towards achieving the country's National Renewable Energy Target to generate 10 per cent of energy requirements through non-conventional renewable energy resources by 2017.

“With this opening, the company becomes the single largest contributor of renewable energy in the nation, generating 23MW with the ability to supply 2.5MW surplus capacities to the national grid, thus making a significant impact in the country’s energy footprint as a single player.”