In a major boost for renewable energy, Australia-based Energy Puzzle Group will invest $190 million to establish a solar panel and solar cells plant in southern Sri Lanka, an official said on Monday.

The plant will be located in the newly demarcated Mirijjawela Export Processing Zone in the southern Sri Lankan town of Hambantota. The area has also received significant Chinese investment including a $1.2-billion harbor and $210- million international airport.

The export processing zone is one of eight new regions that are being promoted by the Sri Lankan government to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Spanning across eight-and-a-half acres, the plant is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2015, generating 150 megawatts of power each year.

The majority of the energy produced will initially be for export. The three main export markets the company is targeting are India, Japan and the Gulf states.

Once Phase One is up and operational, based on demand the company will look at expanding not only in solar panels, but will also move into energy storage and other renewables and software development.

The plant will originally employ 150 staff members, which would be a balanced mix of Sri Lankan and Australian managers and workers.

"Sri Lanka, given the new port and the new development area in Hambantota, provides an excellent opportunity for us. It is a deep water port and there are no deep water ports in the southern part of India. We feel that both bringing materials into Sri Lanka and within the new free port area, we will be able to manufacture and export quite quickly at quite a low expense. The whole process of logistics has made it quite conducive," Energy Puzzle Chairman Patrick Featherson told reporters.

Sri Lanka's government has been aggressively promoting the island as a hub to attract foreign investment and set a target of $2 billion for 2014.