Roshane Perera Honoured with the Global CEO 45 Under 45 Leadership Excellence Platinum Award 2025

Roshane Perera, Deputy Managing Director – Energy of Hayleys Fentons, has been honoured with the prestigious Global CEO 45 Under 45 Leadership Excellence Platinum Award 2025, recognising exceptional young leaders who are shaping industries through visionary leadership, innovation, and measurable national impact.

Mr. Perera is widely regarded as one of Sri Lanka’s most influential leaders in the renewable energy sector, with a strong track record in driving large-scale energy transformation and building future-ready organisations aligned with national sustainability priorities.

Since taking the helm of Hayleys Solar in 2017, Roshane Perera has transformed a 26-person operation with Rs. 1 billion in turnover into a business comprising over 800 professionals, delivering Rs. 15 billion in annual revenue and Rs. 3–4 billion in profit – representing one of the most remarkable growth stories in Sri Lanka’s corporate landscape.

An Electrical Engineer from the University of Moratuwa with an MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems from Queen Mary University of London, and early international exposure within Switzerland’s advanced energy ecosystem, Roshane Perera brought a globally informed perspective to Sri Lanka’s emerging solar industry.

Under his leadership, Hayleys Solar expanded its market share from 3% to 25%, and is on track to surpass 750 MW of installed capacity by mid-2026.

Today, the company stands as one of Sri Lanka’s most recognised solar brands, having delivered over 500 MW of rooftop solar capacity, built a customer base exceeding 20,000, and deployed more than 5,000 battery systems.

His tenure has delivered a series of national firsts, including Sri Lanka’s first large-scale lithium-ion battery storage system and the country’s largest 2 MWh BESS installation to date, the first solar-powered telecom tower network spanning over 1,000 sites, and the first agrivoltaic pilot project in partnership with the Asian Development Bank and the University of Peradeniya.

Roshane Perera has also secured Sri Lanka’s most complex utility-scale solar portfolio, comprising 40 projects totalling 300 MW, expanded into wind power through 110 MW of projects including the landmark HayWind project in Mannar, and grown Hayleys Solar into the second-largest solar provider in the Maldives.

Roshane Perera attributes this growth to people, not just projects.

A people-centric leader, he built Hayleys Solar’s culture around trust, accountability, and continuous learning – navigating regulatory changes, economic challenges, and market volatility by turning obstacles into opportunities for innovation.

This leadership journey has been further strengthened by the strong governance of Hayleys Fentons Limited and the wider Hayleys Group, including the strategic guidance of Hasith Prematillake, Managing Director of Hayleys Fentons Limited.

The Global CEO 45 Under 45 Leadership Excellence Platinum Award 2025 recognises not only Perera’s individual leadership but also the collective achievements of the team behind Hayleys Fentons’s growth, innovation, and national impact – reaffirming the company’s role as a defining force in Sri Lanka’s clean energy future.

Image - Roshane Perera, Deputy Managing Director – Energy of Hayleys Fentons.