By Maheesha Mudugamuwa A decision taken by Minister of Power and Energy Mahinda Amaraweera to purchase emergency power for six months at a cost of Rs. 6.5 billion has raised many eyebrows. While some experts claim that the new Government is repeating what its predecessors did, others argue that there was no better option than purchasing emergency power from private power plants to avoid a possible power blackout during the upcoming drought period, as proposed by Minister Amaraweera. Meanwhile, others canvassing for renewable energy questioned the inability of the governments to secure the advantage of solar energy which would be available throughout the drought period. Last week, Amaraweera gave 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. Former Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Chairman and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Sunil Handunnetti, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said the Government should remind themselves of what they said while they were in the Opposition. On several occasions, the COPE had also questioned the agreements made between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the private power companies while purchasing emergency power. Over the past few years, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) canvassed against the purchasing of emergency power where they claimed it should only be limited to calamitous situations with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. Last year, the country faced a similar power crisis where the then Government had to impose power cuts as former Minister Ravi Karunanayake had decided not to purchase emergency power. A CEB engineer, who did not want to be quoted and wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Morning that it was important to have firm energy sources to mitigate any emergency power purchase. However, justifying his decision, Amaraweera said the decision to purchase emergency power was taken mainly because of the lack of firm energy sources such as coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and diesel power. “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 decided to purchase emergency power,” he said. Amaraweera also 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, leaving the Government with 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 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 using renewable energy such as solar and wind. Meanwhile, Amaraweera had also urged the 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 which is aimed at securing the lowest price, forcing private firms to compete against each other. According to current trends, a majority of the countries in the region are seeking renewable energy solutions to meet the ever-increasing power demands of their countries, and here in Sri Lanka too, the political leaders speak loudly about the renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Even though the production cost of renewable energy is much higher than that of other available energy resources, it is still the most important energy source because the country could save a large sum of money going out of the country, and it could also be generated within the country. At present, Sri Lanka has thermal oil/coal, hydro, and wind (a very small amount) power plants. Thermal oil is comparably much higher than the other four power plants and the cheapest is hydropower, but a country cannot depend only on hydropower as it should have an alternative to face dry and drought conditions. Therefore, thermal coal has become an option. However, they are not environmental friendly. As a result, LNG power plants are the best option, at least until there is a proper renewable energy platform in the country. For a long time, the CEB used to purchase emergency power when there was a necessity, such as in a drought, at comparably higher rates from private parties, and at the end of the day, it was the consumers who had to bear the brunt of the failures of the leadership. According to the Mid-Year Fiscal Position Report – 2019 issued under Section 10 of the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act No. 3 of 2003, the electricity generation expanded to 5,319 GWh in the first four months of 2019, compared to 5,138 GWh in the same period of 2018. However, operating losses of the CEB increased to Rs. 23.114 billion in the first four months of 2019 from Rs. 17.535 billion in the same period of 2018. Cost per unit increased to Rs. 22.05 per KWh in the first four months of 2019 from Rs. 20.46 per KWh recorded in 2018. The generation mix comprised 1,004 GWh of hydropower, 2,037 GWh of thermal (fuel), 1,988 GWh of thermal (coal), and 290 GWh of non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) and wind during the reporting period, which has changed from 18:36:39:7 in 2018 to 19:38:37:5 in the first four months of 2019. The coal power generation declined mainly due to failures which occurred during early 2019 at the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant (Lakvijaya Power Station). The total outstanding obligations to the banks of CEB increased to Rs. 80,218 million in the first four months of 2019 from Rs. 54,365 million in the same period of 2018. Further, the total outstanding obligations to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and independent power producers (IPP) increased to Rs. 103.191 billion as at end April 2019 from Rs. 85.304 billion in the same period of 2018.