LNG to replace coal fired power plants - Energy Minister

Wasantha Ramanayake

The Power and Energy Ministry is seriously considering to include Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in the generation plan replacing some of the coal fired power plants, said Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Senevirathne at the Prof. Mohan Munasinghe felicitation ceremony in Colombo, recently.

Senevirathne said the consideration was given at minimising the green house gas emissions as contemplated in the recently finalised “Energy Policy and Strategy of Sri Lanka,” as a responsible global citizen.

The Minister was the chief guest at the felicitation ceremony organised by Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association honouring Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, one of the vice chairs of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) which shared the Nobel Peace Price in 2007.

“Prof. Munasinghe was one of the most distinguished personalities in the energy and environment sector produced by the country,” the Minister said. He congratulated Prof. Munasinghe for bringing another rare honour to Sri Lanka, this time being one of the vice chairs of the IPCC.

The Ministry added that many energy and environment conservation efforts and programmes could find their roots in the initiatives by Prof. Munasinghe.

The Minister noted that Prof. Munasinghe and Prof. K.K.Y.W. Perera were among the key figures pioneering the setting up of Energy Conservation Fund which was the forerunner to the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) which was a statutory body established last year to facilitate the tapping of new indigenous renewable energy sources as well as to promote energy conservation.

According to the Minister the Energy Policy and Strategy of Sri Lanka address the environment issues in the future energy planning without compromising the economic development of the country; the social and economic development while caring for the environment, to make sure that the adverse environment impacts are mitigated.

The strategy would focus on the “increased penetration of the renewable energy sources in the power sector,” the Minister said. The Ministry has set a target of 10% of total generation to come from the renewable energy sources such as mini-hydro power, wind and bio mass.

Senevirathne noted that the strategy would also be mindful wherever possible to minimise the effects at global level; such as those relating to the green house gas emissions that warm up the earth resulting in drastic climatic changes across the globe.

The Minister added that some of the donors were willing to assist in the LNG projects. There are other parallel progermmes getting the schoolchildren directly involved in the energy conservation that have both short and long term outcomes. “We are doing our part as good global citizens reducing the overall emissions in the energy sector.”

The Minister noted that Prof. Munasinghe had rendered his valuable service to the world community while serving in the World Bank and other international organisations.