A lot of heated arguments are taking place with the recent announcement of electricity tariff increases. One always thought Sri Lanka was primarily dependent on hydro power plants and hydro power generated electricity was supposed to be clean and relatively cheap form of energy. That’s why the topic of cutting electricity becomes the main source of discussion whenever monsoons are late or not that generous. However, quick googling on the subject reveals that this is no longer the case.
As of now only 45% of total demand is provided via hydro power plants whilst 54% is accounted for by thermal power plants. Some will argue that 45% is still a significant amount. It is .. but what is surprising is the trend that has taken place during the last few years. Whilst the contribution of hydro power plants have gone down the contribution of thermal power plants have increased significantly. This is clear indication that Sri Lanka is looking at thermal energy, specifically electricity generated via coal as its primary source of electricity generation for the coming years. Is thermal energy, to be more precise coal power plants, well suited to Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka obviously doesn't have any coal mines of its own. This means we have to use foreign currency and buy coal from other countries. Which makes us susceptible to coal price changes in the world market? Coal price on the other hand are not going to decrease either. All the hedging deals of yester year come in to mind when one thinks about how to effectively handle coal price changes. So obviously depending on coal for electricity generation is not the way to go for Sri Lanka at least under my logic.
So why the hell have we gone in and increased our electricity generation on thermal power ???. This sounds like a clear misjudgment on the part of current energy policy. Looking at our natural resources we are blessed with monsoons which bring us rain. Thanks to our previous generations we have harnessed that to generate electricity by building hydro power plants. When rain is scarce we have sunshine. We are a country that is very close to the equator. We get sunshine all year around. But yet we are not using it to generate electricity. Why has this been overlooked?, or is it so that solar power plants are not suited to Sri Lanka. This is very hard to believe. Recently there have been instances where normal people have bought solar panels; generated power from those; and even contributed the excess to the national grid. Why is this being neglected by the government?. Some of the challenges highlighted in the above wikipedia link in terms of introducing solar/wind power plants in Sri Lanka are as follows
- '....Poor accessibility to potential sites is the first obstacle faced during the development of a wind farm. Most key transport routes around the country are too narrow or is constructed with tight turns to support transportation of turbines larger than 600 KW...'
- '.....The country is also in a long battle against its poor power grid. The grid, apart from being unstable in most provinces, is only capable of handling a small increases in load at any given location, typically limited to a few megawatts. Provinces with poor grids, such as the power grids in the Northern, North Central and North Western provinces needs complete upgrade to support further commercial-scale developments....'
- '...... In October 2009, a number of cases were files over political interference connected with the approving of wind projects, leading to a complete halt in the wind power industry in Sri Lanka. The Ministry made allegations of wrongdoing in allocating energy licences, including the structuring of the wind power tariff. There were also allegations that energy licenses are being sold, similar to how car licenses have been sold....'
- '....In July 2010, engineers at the Ceylon Electricity Board raised further concerns regarding the approval of private wind projects with extra high tariffs, presumably some of the highest tariffs in the world. A review of the current wind power tariff is expected to be carried out on the 12 of September 2010...'
3rd and 4th points highlighted in wikipedia are appalling. Bureaucracy has intervened to peg Sri Lanka back and more disgustingly to lead it a wrong direction. First and second points reveal that proper examination of the countries power grid as well as its overall energy policy has not been done. Under developed roads should not become a bottleneck for wind power plants. It's at best described as an obstacle that can be overcome.
So the million dollar question is what is Sri Lanka’s energy policy for the coming years? And more importantly how suited and sustainable will it be for a country like Sri Lanka?
