Private power augments dwindling hydropower as drought worsens

If we can reduce the usage of the ACs and keep them to such a temperature, we can save up to 50 MW. That’s why we are requesting offices to do."

As Sri Lanka enters a period of prolonged drought, the strain on the country’s electricity grid continues to mount. Authorities, alarmed at the rapidly worsening situation, announced a variety of measures throughout the past week, aimed at conserving electricity and connecting more power to the national grid.

With the capacity of hydropower reservoirs at 32.8%, and water levels at all of its reservoirs below 50%, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment this week stressed that providing water for drinking and for farmers to protect their crops, would take precedence over releasing water for electricity generation.

Sri Lanka’s current peak hour electrici- ty demand is about 2300 Megawatts (MW). If the drought conditions worsen, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) expects a shortfall of 600-700 MW. As such, the CEB has already gone ahead with plans to purchase emergency power for the national grid. Accordingly, tender for the purchase of 60 Megawatts ( MW) of emergency power was awarded this week at a cost of Rs 28 per unit. Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, Dr Suren Batagoda told the Sunday Times that the Government was happy with the outcome, as the cost was lower than that of a unit of electricity generated by existing private power plants such as Kelanitissa.

Additionally, the CEB will restart purchasing power from three private power plants whose agreements had been allowed to expire. One of them, the 25MW ACE power plant in Matara, will start generating electricity for the national grid early next week, following the renewal of its agreement for a year. The 100 MW Heladanavi plant in Puttalam, meanwhile, will be connected to the national grid from April, while the agreement with the 100 MW ACE Power plant in Embilipitiya, which was due to expire this April, has been extended by another year.

The Government is also expecting about 300 MW from a self- generation scheme by bulk supply customers such as factories. “About 100 MW have already come,” Dr. Batagoda observed.

The Secretary further revealed that the Government is considering purchasing a 200 MW barge mounted power plant within the next two months, as an additional cushion against power shortages. “We are considering it, as the price of such power plants, currently in the world market, is low,” Dr. Batagoda elaborated.

While measures to purchase emergency power and renew agreements with power plants are taking place, several steps aimed at energy conservation are also being put in place, while appeals have been made to the private sector and the public for their cooperation.

President Maithripala Sirisena underscored the urgency of the matter on Friday (20), when he requested private business establishments to switch off their lights used for promotion and decorative purposes, to save energy, until the drought situation eases. The President pointed out that a significant amount of power could be saved, if this was done.

The Government has also requested urban councils to switch on their street lamps one hour later than the current time of 5.30 pm, to save electricity. This followed closely on the heels of another decision to issue a circular limiting the minimum temperature of air-conditioning (AC) units in Government offices to 26 Degrees Celsius. Dr. Batagoda told the Sunday Times that this was done as AC units account for some 60% of power consumed at Government and private offices. “If we can reduce the usage of the ACs