Environment friendly power

Dinesh de ALWIS

Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka speaks to the Daily News on solutions to uplift the energy sector in Sri Lanka. Following are the excerpts

A: During these four months we have introduced several programs. We introduced latest technology to the Ceylon Electricity Board. Several mega projects are now under way. When I assumed duties there was some sort of crisis here. One is financial which is still prevailing. This year, we expected a revenue of Rs 120 billion and expenditure would be Rs 160 billion. So we are running at a Rs 40 billion deficit.

Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka

That means every citizen should pay Rs 2000 additionally to recover the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) losses, whether they have electricity or not, weather they are rich or poor.

We are preparing a long-term power generation plan for the next five years. We will be converting the CEB into an institution without any operational losses. When I was in the Environment Ministry, I made that Ministry a profit making venture. I hope to do the same here before 2015.

A: Our first target is to minimize the operational losses. We have been running at a loss from 1998. Rs 148 billion has been lost. We have Rs 160 billion debts. We owed Rs 53 billion to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). They too face liquidity problems and a serious financial problem because of the CEB.

The CEB is also in debt to the People’s Bank. That is to finance the CEB’s operational activities. There is a Rs 16 billion Overdraft with the People’s Bank at 13 percent interest. It is a serious problem.

The CEB will be able to reach the break-even point so that it will be a profitable venture with the new financial plan from 2015. Our first priority is to transform our high cost thermal power plants into low cost thermal plants.

By introducing coal, we plan to end the high cost thermal power plants during these five years. Within that period we can reduce the cost significantly. We also have plans to generate income by other means such as utilizing our resources, expanding CEB’s services, eliminating electricity wastage and increasing the Ministry’s efficiency.

A: We are targeting to utilize our properties to make CEB profitable. We have lands, buildings and bungalows. We have also placed a fibre network all over the country. We are going to hire that network to mobile service providers and broadband service providers.

We will utilize our assets properly so that we can earn an additional income. We have a Rs 600 billion assets base, one of the biggest assets base in State institutions.

A: From the consumers’ side, they are frustrated because of high electricity bills. CEB’s power generation cost has been high compared to the average electricity selling price.

This was mainly due to the heavy dependency on fuel based plants for power generation, especially during the past 10 years. Our generation cost is Rs 17.51 per unit for this year. But we are selling a unit at Rs 12.94. That is a serious problem. Rs 12 is high compared to other countries. For example in South Korea it is Rs Seven.

Electricity tariff will be rationalized to reflect the generation costs.

The Government’s policy on tariff rationalization will be a concessionary rate for low income electricity consumers and tariffs will be adjusted to encourage the energy conservation measures for high energy consuming categories.

As per the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 20 of 2009, future electricity tariff setting will be carried out by the Public Utilities Commission in consultation with all the stakeholders.

A: We have invested heavily. Nearly Rs 322 billion has been invested on various power projects. The Upper Kotmale, Puttalam power plant, new transmission lines, upgrading the transmission network and rural electrification programs are among them.

The Upper-Kotmale Hydro Power Project will be completed before the end of 2011. It will generate 150 MW to the National Power Grid. About 75 percent of the total construction has been completed. The total estimated cost of the project is US $ 350 million.

Electricity prices will be further stabilized with the commissioning of Stage II of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant and the benefits of the generation cost reduction will be passed on to the consumers in the long run.

Recently we introduced ‘Net Metering System’ and it is a ‘Clean Green Energy’ system.

You can generate power using solar or wind. Then you can sell it during the day and you can buy power from national grid at night.

The generated solar power electricity is supplied to the National Grid through a special meter called Net Meter. The new system can be used by industries, hotels or even by housing units.

The production is greater than the requirement and the excess electricity is added to the National Grid. When electricity production is lower than the required level, electricity is supplied by the CEB’s National Grid. Finally the consumer has to pay only for the balance of the usage.

We got cabinet approval to proceed with the construction of Broadlands Hydropower Project (BHP).

The project will be launched after 26 years, BHP is the last economically feasible Hydro Power Project in the Laxapana Hydro Power complex.

The estimated construction cost was US $ 103 million but we would proceed with US $ 82 million tender received from China National Electric Equipment Ltd.

The proposed power project with a 35 MW capacity is capable of providing 126 million units to the national grid. We hope to continue the above developments with the 3Es concept. They are Energy, Economic development and Environmental friendly power.