Sri Lanka spent US $ 4,072.1 million on fuel imports between January and August this year, according to the Central Bank. That is 61.6 per cent more than in the same period of 2025, an additional US $ 1,551.5 million. August alone cost US $ 450.6 million, up 76.5 per cent on a year earlier. For a country that only recently emerged from a punishing foreign exchange crisis, these are not statistics to be filed away. They are a warning that we keep ignoring.
The timing makes it worse. The Middle East, the source of much of the crude and refined petroleum we depend on, has become dangerously unstable. Every disruption to shipping lanes or production sends prices upward, and we pay in dollars we can barely spare. A Nation that imports nearly all its fuel has handed a measure of its sovereignty to events it cannot influence.
None of this is a surprise. Successive Governments have promised more renewable energy, and successive governments have delivered more announcements than power plants. Targets have been set, committees formed and strategies launched, yet projects stall in approval queues, tenders are cancelled, and investors are left wondering whether the rules will survive the next election. Even large wind developments have been caught in political controversy rather than judged on their merits. Meanwhile we continue to buy fuel.
So, what must the Government do? First, it must treat energy security as a national priority above party politics. A transition plan with fixed milestones, published and reviewed annually in Parliament, would give citizens something to hold their leaders to. Second, the approval process for renewable projects must be transparent, fast and competitive. Open tenders, clear timelines and consistent rules would lower costs and restore investor confidence. Third, the Electricity Distribution Lanka (Private) Limited (EDL) needs genuine reform. Its finances, its grid planning and its ability to absorb variable power from solar and wind will determine whether new capacity is useful or wasted.
Fourth, the grid itself needs investment. Solar and wind are only as valuable as our ability to carry and store their output. Battery storage, pumped hydro and modern transmission lines are not glamorous, but without them renewable capacity will be curtailed while diesel and coal keep running. Fifth, transport deserves far more attention. Much of our fuel bill is not burnt in power stations at all but in buses, lorries, three-wheelers and cars. Electrifying public transport, expanding rail, and offering sensible incentives for electric three-wheelers and motorcycles would cut imports where they bite hardest.
Households and businesses must be part of this. Rooftop solar has already shown that ordinary people will invest when the incentive is fair. Yet net metering rules and tariffs have shifted often enough to unsettle even willing adopters. Stable, predictable terms, along with affordable green financing for small businesses, farmers and factories, would multiply the effect.
A real transition entails more than swapping one source of power for another. It means retraining workers, building local capacity to install and maintain equipment, and protecting vulnerable families from price shocks along the way. It also means being honest that the path is not painless. Upfront costs are real, and some interests will resist change.
The challenges are considerable. Capital is scarce, and our debt position limits what the Treasury can commit. Land for large projects is contested, and environmental and community concerns must be handled properly, not brushed aside. Policy inconsistency remains the greatest obstacle of all. Investors can price risk, but they cannot price unpredictability. Corruption, or even the perception of it, poisons every large energy deal and has soured the public on projects that might have served them well.
What needs to change, above all, is our political habit of short-term thinking. Fuel subsidies and emergency purchases are easy to announce and expensive to sustain. Long-term investments pay off after the ribbon-cutting has been forgotten, which is exactly why they are neglected. Leaders must be willing to accept that credit will go to their successors.
The public has a role too. Citizens should ask every candidate and every minister a simple question: what is your plan to reduce our dependence on imported fuel, and when will it be delivered? Vague answers should not be accepted.
Every dollar sent abroad for fuel is a dollar not spent on hospitals, schools or debt relief. The sun shines generously on this island, the monsoon winds are reliable, and our rivers have powered us before. We have the resources and the knowledge. What we have lacked is the will to act before a crisis forces our hand. This year's fuel bill suggests that time is running out.