In the year 2015:

Power demand to be 12,941 GWH

Charumini de Silva

The demand for power in Sri Lanka is increasing by seven to eight percent annually. The country currently needs 9,190 GWH and the energy demand will increase to 12,941 GWH by 2015.

Speaking at the press conference held yesterday Panasian Power Ltd., Director, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi said the power sector is a pivotal component of any economy. The demand for power in Sri Lanka is increasing by seven to eight percent annually. However, with global warming at a high level, the world is now focusing at renewable energy sources. Thus, mini hydropower plants are ideal as they are green energy, he said.

“Sri Lanka currently needs 9,190 GWH and the energy demand will increase to 12,941 GWH by 2015.

At present the peak demand for power is in the night and it accounts to 2,170 MW.

However, with the country having an accelerated development plan the energy peak demand will increase to 3,035 MW,” Sooriyaarachchi said.

The Government is expecting to increase the mini hydropower capacity to 350 MW by 2015 and has invested Rs 40 billion in installing mini hydropower plants in the country.

The use of hydropower helps to save a large sum of foreign exchange and 136 million litres of fossil fuel annually.

He said the private sector provides 16 percent of hydropower while 84 percent is thermal power. The contribution of hydropower is a very small sector compared to the thermal power, but there is plenty of scope for the private sector to be in the industry. Hydropower is one of the cheapest energies as it costs only Rs 14.25 per unit.

Panasian Power Limited (PAP) will open its Rs 600 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) on December 7.

The main objective of the IPO is to acquire Manelwala Hydropower Limited (MHPL) and settle the debts. The company expects to identify more locations while increasing the hydropower capacity to 15 MW within the next five years.

With the acquisition of MHPL, PAP plans to increase the capacity to three MWs with an investment of Rs 100 million. The Small Power Project Agreement (SPPA) is to be signed with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) within the next three months.