• President agrees to fund transmission network upgrade
• Four new transmission lines planned to absorb more renewable energy
• Minister says grid, not generation capacity, is the main bottleneck

President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake has agreed to allocate Treasury funds to expand the country's electricity transmission network to enable renewable energy generated in Mannar, Hambantota and other areas to be absorbed into the national grid, while also planning to construct four additional transmission lines, Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka told Parliament.

Responding to a question raised by Opposition Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake yesterday (21), he said the lack of transmission infrastructure, rather than renewable generation capacity, remained the main obstacle to integrating more renewable energy into the national electricity system. 

"We have built renewable energy power plants, but, during the past period, the transmission lines required to absorb that electricity into the national grid were not constructed," he said. He said that work is now progressing on the transmission system linked to the Sampur power project. 

"Initially, we planned the project with a capacity of 300 megawatts (MW). However, we’ve now decided to increase its capacity to 600 MW and work is continuing accordingly. We don’t expect any significant delays," he said. He further said that inadequate transmission infrastructure continues to prevent renewable energy generated in Mannar in the Northern Province and Hambantota from being fully connected to the national grid. 

"We discussed this with the President, who promised to allocate Treasury funds for this purpose because expanding the transmission network is extremely important for absorbing renewable energy. We also expect to construct four more transmission lines," he added.