By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The inability of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant to curtail harmful emissions has once again highlighted the importance of Sri Lanka accelerating its shift into renewable sources such as solar power. Authorities are unable to temporarily shut down the power plant to carry out mandatory maintenance as there is a serious shortfall of electricity in the country. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the electricity monopoly with a market share of nearly 100%, is yet to implement its Long Term Generation Expansion Plan 2018-2037. Instead, they are struggling to purchase barge-mounted power on an emergency basis. The attempt of the CEB and the Ministry of Power and Energy to purchase barge-mounted power on an emergency basis until the LNG (liquid natural gas) power plants are commissioned in another year or two was subjected to criticism by energy experts who claim there should have been a push to secure more renewable energy. However, when it comes to renewable energy, there are two schools of thought. The first represented by environmental groups and renewable energy producers is that carbon-free power must be sourced from renewable energy like solar, wind, or even biomass, large-scale hydro, and waste-to-energy technologies. The second school of thought represented by a number of academic energy analysts is that there should be firm energy sources such as coal to run the system as the country cannot solely depend on renewable energy sources. ‘Firm’ vs. renewable power Electrical engineers attached to the CEB noted that at present, the entire power sector is dependent on the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, of which some of the machines are in need of urgent repair. However, authorities are unable to halt operations due to the power crisis. They also believe that the reason for the current energy crisis was the non-implementation of least-cost power plants, especially coal power plants. According to CEB statistics, out of the total energy generation, 33.62% is contributed by thermal coal while 44.3% is contributed by thermal oil, 17.04% by hydro, and 4.54% by wind. The contribution from small hydro plants is at zero as at last week. However, solar power contribution was not mentioned in this energy generation data. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, former CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) President Athula Wanniarachchi stressed that some of the machines at the Norochcholai power plant are emitting harmful substances as operations were not stopped in order to enable mandatory maintenance which should have been done nearly six months ago. The reason behind not shutting down the machines for repairs was the power shortage. Currently, as calculated by the engineers, the CEB is running on a shortage of 400 MW, which includes the 200 MW of extra power it needs if a machine at the Norochcholai power plant is to be shut down for repair. So now, the question is that if Sri Lanka lacks only 200 MW of power (excluding the amount necessary for the Norochcholai repairs), which is also during the dry period when the hydro power generation is low, why can’t the CEB fill that energy gap with solar generation without opting for expensive barge-mounted emergency power until the LNG power plants are commissioned? Moving backwards? At present, almost all the countries around the world are moving towards renewable energy sources by investing in renewable technologies and diversifying its energy sources. But renewable energy experts claimed that, unlike in all the other countries, Sri Lanka is moving backwards as a result of unwise decisions taken by the authorities. In June, there was a huge public outcry over the Power, Energy, and Business Development Ministry’s decision to introduce a flat rate for solar producers and its consideration to not approve rooftop PV connections over the capacity of 50 KW until further notice. As reported on 16 June 2019 by The Sunday Morning, Minister Ravi Karunanayake was to introduce the flat rate from 1 August. But to date, the Ministry has not taken such a decision. This was confirmed by Solar Industries Association (SIA) President Kushan Jayasuriya. According to him, the Ministry’s initial plan had been revised as they had given the opportunity for all stakeholders to lobby their concerns. Jayasuriya told The Sunday Morning that the Ministry would take a decision within the next two weeks. When asked whether barge-mounted emergency power can be replaced with solar, Jayasuriya stressed that the country needs firm power and at present, solar doesn’t fall under that as it needs a long-term plan. Array of opportunities Meanwhile, former Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) Chairman Prasad Galhena said the calculation of the 400 MW power shortage was wrong and there was no actual power shortage at present. “The way these numbers are represented is wrong. The megawatts are referring to capacity. It doesn’t refer to energy. When they are talking about megawatts in terms of capacity, it makes no sense because what you really need is energy, and energy is referred to differently. “Someone says there is a shortage of 200 MW – the Minister’s cabinet paper in April took the shortage at 700 MW, it then came down to 400 MW and now to 200 MW. Various numbers are being said by various people. This should not be allowed. The numbers should be published,” he stressed. Further, Galhena explained that the country was currently not in the same situation it was in April as the past months experienced a substantial amount of rain and reservoirs were operating at full capacity. “Has somebody proven that there is a shortage of that nature? If you look at the entire Mahaweli Project, it has the capacity of approximately 500 MW. Can a shortage of the size of the Mahaweli Project occur overnight? “I strongly believe there is no shortage. If there is a shortage today, there have to be power cuts. How are they waiting till a barge comes if there is a shortage? Once you connect these, you need to invest in transmission lines as well,” he added. Investing for 20 years Highlighting the importance of solar power to the country’s economy, Galhena explained: “Whenever you invest in rooftop solar panels, you don’t need to invest in anything else. Not a single rupee is needed for transmission lines. “I think this issue can be solved, and it’s just a matter of having a proper discussion with all the stakeholders concerned and getting everybody’s opinion. We can produce 4,000 MW of uninterrupted solar power. There is plenty of capacity available.” As highlighted by him, the unit cost of solar power is dramatically reducing and in the future, it would be even less than it is at present. He also explained that when installing solar, only capital costs arise and it has almost no running cost. Highlighting the importance of having diverse and balanced energy sources, Galhena explained that even if the country needed to do so, and most importantly, include LNG-based power plants as well, any solution of this nature would take at least three to five years or even more to implement. “This tendering process itself takes about one to two years and implementation takes at least three years or more,” he said, adding that therefore, the best short-term solution was solar. When asked whether there were any negative environmental impacts of solar panels, Galhena stressed that nothing of that nature was proven yet. “This is relatively new and if you buy a panel, you are able to use it for a minimum for 20 years. It’s also like computers in that there has to be a disposal mechanism. I think this is available at the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) with the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). These need to be disposed of in a proper manner, which means that you just can’t dump it. Other than that, there is no issue. The most important thing is carbon emission, and for solar it is zero. The shortage has to be verified by the Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL). None of this data was sent to the PUCSL either. Anybody can make a statement, but that’s not how it should be done,” he added. Solar-powered buildings Another power expert, Dr. Priyantha Morapitiya, explained that Sri Lanka, for the time being, needed firm energy at a capacity of about 1,750 MW. Highlighting data available at SAE, Dr. Morapitiya stressed that Sri Lanka had about 5,300,000 houses, out of which only 20,000 were equipped with solar power. “The Government and power experts say that they need at least 200 MW. When going to the municipal councils for approvals, one should have a rooftop solar power system. Then, new houses will not be additional burdens and add to the island’s power requirement. When you start a new business, install solar power systems. There are about 10,000 government schools, and solar panels can be installed there too. When you use solar power in the daytime, you can save the hydropower for the night time. That is what you have to promote. It is sunny in Sri Lanka almost all year. You can get the maximum out of the daylight,” he explained. Unfortunately, the Government is not promoting solar power right now. If we opt for solar, we would not need emergency power in the future, he added. Ministry of Power Media Spokesman and Director – Development Sulakshana Jayawardena said the Ministry was planning to launch another 800 MW system by 2025 and add 1,000 MW of solar power to the national grid. “Measures are being implemented to add 300 solar power projects providing 1 MW each in the second phase, and competitive bids have been called. By now, tenders have been awarded for more than 126 MW. The competitive bidding procurement process is being implemented for another 150 MW,” he added. Under the third phase, steps will be being taken to add five 10 MW power plants to the national grid and under phase four, large-scale solar parks based in the Pooneryn and Siyambalanduwa areas will be built. This will include the construction of solar power plants floating on reservoirs. Maduru Oya has been selected for this purpose, according to Jayawardena. False allegations? Responding to the allegations, Ministry of Power, Energy, and Business Development Secretary Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda told The Sunday Morning that the Government had not stopped any sort of solar power projects or the net metering system as reported by the media. He alleged that a negative campaign had been carried out by the diesel mafia, and as a result, solar power generation was reduced around the country. “So far, we have developed 200 MW of solar power and added it to the grid, and had that 200 MW not been added, the power crisis would have worsened. Our target is one million households. So far, we have completed 20,000 households. Our main objectives are to ensure that every household has a solar unit and by 2030-35 and every household has solar power with a battery,” he said. “Initially, when we launched the ‘Surya Bala Sangramaya’, we were planning to do a review after completing 100 MW. The system is very old, so we planned to do a review after 100 MW to get an idea about the system. We didn’t know what would happen to the system when we add 20,000 power plants to the grid. Since there was no such technical damage, we continued the project until 200 MW and then decided to review it,” Dr. Batagoda continued to explain. “There were several concerns over the unit price of solar power where the CEB paid Rs. 22 per unit for rooftop solar. There were also certain concerns under the net metering system where wealthy consumers who consumed more electricity got a set off of Rs. 45 while low consumers got only Rs. 22,” he said, adding that soon after the committee was appointed, some high-consuming solar producers started publicising that the Government was going to stop solar power, assuming the committee recommendations might go against them. However, as of now, the committee report still has not come out. “After the committee report is submitted, we should get the Cabinet approval,” he added. Referring to the power shortage, Dr. Batagoda stressed that at present, there was no power shortage and the system was running on 100 MW of emergency power which the CEB bought for six months. He said even though there is no shortage, as of now, the system is running on a margin where the need for emergency power would erupt at any time if any issue arises in the system or a plant. “In addition, we have gas engines which we use to meet the demand during peak hours (from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) on a daily basis, when the demand suddenly increased by 300 MW,” he said, adding that the cost of a unit of electricity from aforesaid gas engines was around Rs. 45-50, and those engines were running 24 hours a day due to the situation. “The hydropower generation was the lowest this year. Usually, in years where rainfall was relatively low in hydropower reservoirs, the CEB was able to generate around 3,000-5,000 GWh. But as of now, the total hydropower generations this year is 1,300 GWh – the lowest recorded,” Dr. Batagoda said. • Mandatory maintenance on hold