By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Power and Energy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has given the green light to purchase 300 MW of emergency power for the next six months to meet the electricity demand during an expected drought this year. The Minister had taken the decision following discussions with energy experts who had also recommended purchasing emergency power to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply. The decision to purchase emergency power was taken mainly because of the lack of firm energy sources such as coal, LNG, and Diesel power, Amaraweera told The Sunday Morning. “A dry season is predicted over the next few months and when there is no rain, hydropower generation will be limited. Therefore, to meet the demand, the Ministry had decided to purchase emergency power,” he said. The Minister noted that there had not been any major power projects launched during the last four years which had in turn aggravated the energy crisis in Sri Lanka with the Government having no option but to purchase power from private power suppliers. Accordingly, emergency power would be purchased from the existing private power companies registered with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). However, when asked whether the demand could be met with renewable energy, the Ministry insisted on the importance of firm energy as the main source and the inability to run the system solely with renewable energy such as solar and wind. Meanwhile, Minister Amaraweera had also urged the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA), and several other institutions attached to the Ministry of Power and Energy to work together to solve the problem without obstructing the common cause. Furthermore, the Minister had ordered officials to set fixed prices for renewable energy sources. Currently, the CEB is operating on a competitive bidding system, forcing private firms to compete against each other, is aimed at securing the lowest price.