Norway concerned over Sri Lanka’s power crisis; SL to expect power cuts from March

Last year it was during end March that power cuts were imposed across the island due to severe dry weather while the national grid capacity failed to meet the increased demand for power and due to limited power generation. The same scenario could happen this year from March, concerned authorities say.

Why is Sri Lanka still dependent on fossil energy power plants while the rest of the world is spearheading in introducing clean energy solar power plants? Many similar questions were raised during a panel discussion in Colombo on Tuesday with some experts in the power and renewable energy sector unable to provide clear answers.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy in partnership with the University of Jaffna and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences organised a panel discussion titled ‘A new decade: Investing in clean energy in Sri Lanka – Drivers and Barriers’ at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. The panellists were Norwegian clean energy company Greenstat Hydrogen Asia, Chairman, Sturle H. Pedersen; University of Colombo, Senior Professor, Nalin de Silva; Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Director General, Asanka S. Rodrigo; CEB Renewable Energy Development Division, Deputy General Manager, Senarathna Banda; Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka, CEO and Managing Director, S. Renganthan; and International Finance Corporation, Principal Investment Officer, Kamal Dorabawila.

During the discussion it was highlighted that policies and regulations can be adopted through best practices whereas the government should be more aggressive in this area when making decisions. Sri Lanka has a significant footprint in the renewable energy spectrum where raw materials are readily available but the investments in harnessing the raw materials must be boosted by the government. Future potential for Sri Lanka is on wind and solar energy, a panelist added.

It was also noted that Sri Lanka sells power at Rs. 0.12 cents per kilowatt hour whereas the cost of generation is Rs. 0.14 cents per kilowatt hour. Also the power crisis is continuing to grow while the demand is going up day by day. Most of the projects are dragging due to land use issues and getting approvals.

Sri Lanka’s first floating solar power plant was opened on Friday in Kilinochchi built in partnership with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and University of Jaffna.