Immediately implementable action items

1. Take immediate steps to build power plants that would have the lowest economic impact on the country, changing the focus from cost to economic value and green technology. These include the Renewable energy power plants, and the natural gas power plants already approved by the cabinet and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

2. Develop a short-term plan that covers generation and transmission to come out of the current energy deficit, accelerating RE addition to the grid while eliminating bottlenecks.

3. Introduce Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) aligned with economic goals for the utility companies.

4. Increase disclosure levels and streamline accounting practices to create transparency.

5. Review the business models imposed on the utilities to ensure they are realistic and practical.

6. When negotiating extensions of PPA, ensure the insertion of renegotiation clauses in power purchase agreements (PPAs), and re-visit full-cycle project economics.

7. List a percentage of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on the stock market to increase public oversight.

8. Include the National Agency for Public and Private Partnership (NAPPP) in the relevant part of an updated national procurement process in the energy sector.

9. Restructure and standardise the bidding processes including Request For Proposals (RFPs) to increase competition, compare bids accurately, and capture maximum long-term economic value.

10. Engage professional industry advisory companies to protect national interest when evaluating and negotiating energy contracts with international parties, until Sri Lankan experts gain capacity.

11. Vest control of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply portfolio in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development, to balance LNG imports with upstream development timelines.

12. Align generation planning with sustainability goals and in-line with technological trends of the sector. Planning should be restricted to a single currency, with a sensitivity analysis taking into consideration full social and environmental cost.

13. Strictly adhere to all regulations related to procurement of emergency power with full transparency (CEB).

14. Develop a technology roadmap for a 100 per cent (renewable/indigenous) grid, utilizing global expertise to create a notional generation plan for alternative scenarios.

15. Mandate the National Procurement Commission (NPC) to perform the functions of the Procurement Appeals Board (PAB), so that the appeals process is done in an independent and impartial manner.

16. Ensure that CEOs of the SOEs are experienced corporate leaders and have sufficient time in the job to carry out tangible reforms.

17. Conduct mandatory dispatch audits of the System Control Centre.

18. Simplify the process by which private power producers apply for RE PPAs and remove arbitrary scale limits, treating each project on its merits.

19. Research and implement strict demand management steps without any further delay.

20. Impose results-based targets on the SEA in terms of demand management.