Power corrupts

The Power and Energy Minister has got Cabinet approval to purchase emergency electricity as fears of a drought, which could trigger long power cuts, loom. On the eve of Independence Day, an unannounced all-island two hour power cut was largely treated as an ‘everyday occurrence’. However, it was later found to have been the result of a dispute over unpaid bills between two state institutions viz., the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), both running at massive losses. The CPC just cut supplying fuel to CEB’s thermal plants.

That the energy sector is riddled with corruption and mismanagement is no secret. One group wants emergency power purchases so they can help favoured agents and another wants extensions to the ‘always breakdown’ Norochcholai coal plant. They eagerly wait for the water levels to drop so that the hydropower stations can no longer cope with the demand.

Countries that are trying to get rid of coal as unclean energy are trying to dump their plants here, and Trincomalee has been identified for geo-political considerations rather than fixing energy deficiencies. Now comes a signal from Russia that it is willing to engage in providing nuclear power plants when the world is moving away from that source due to the dangers from accidents as happened in Chernobyl and Fukushima.

So what about solar power and wind power? Renewable Green Energy is the way the world is going. But as the sun beats down on this island-nation aplenty, the CEB is being obstructionist and quibbling over storage issues and tariffs and tenders for solar power. Everyone is trying to make a quick buck while the sun shines and power cuts loom. Those who can literally make power while the sun shines are being shunned.