Land issues for mini hydropower investors

Indunil Hewage

Investors in mini hydropower projects expect government authorities to act in a swift manner when it comes to leasing lands for power projects.

An industry official said the industry has immensely contributed to the well-being of the local economy and the environment as opposed to high cost thermal energy generation.

Small hydropower plants have continually supplied the cheapest power to the Ceylon Electricity Board and small hydropower projects supplied 750 million units of green energy into the grid in 2010 and over 3,000 units this decade.

Hence the industry expects continuous assistance from the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and the Central Environmental Authority and related organizations to achieve set targets in the industry.

"Eventhough, small hydropower projects has grown in the last couple of years, there are several pressing issues that hampers the growth of the industry. There are more than 300 megawatts of small hydropower projects, which can be developed within the next five years. Most of these projects are high cost, low yield projects and investors need higher tariff to justify the investments.

"The government needs to issue long-term leases for project lands and the BOI should change the complex rules and regulations without confusing local investors in the mini hydropower industry," an official said.