Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) recently celebrated its 52nd anniversary, in a journey that expanded their transmission and distribution network to each and every corner of the country, reaching 100% electrification in 2019. During the past five-plus decades, the CEB has directly contributed immensely to the country's development activities and has managed to provide access to electricity for the entire population in the country. Currently, CEB caters to a customer base of 6.5 million.To highlight CEB’s journey, the challenges they face, and their plans for the future, The Sunday Morning Business sat down with CEB Division 4 Additional General Manager – Distributions Eng. Rohan Seneviratne.52 years of journey in CEB, what have been some of its significant milestones?Since first being established on 1 November 1969, there have been some truly great moments in CEB history, the most important of which has been the electrification of the entire country. By 2019, we had reached almost 100% electrification of the country by providing access to electricity to 6.5 million homes. This is a significant milestone for the CEB; electricity is reaching every corner of Sri Lanka now, and everyone has access to it. CEB consistently attempts to ensure a reliable, quality and continuous power supply to each and every customer, and this serves as a significant milestone, especially when compared with other regional countries. During the journey of 52 years, in order to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the country, CEB established Kelanitissa Thermal Power Station and a few other thermal power stations. The accelerated Mahaweli scheme made way for the birth of major hydropower plants like Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, and Rantambe. As the power demand in the country was ever increasing, large-scale thermal power plants such as West Coast Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya, and Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai, were added to the national grid. The Lakvijaya Power Plant of 900 MW is the largest power plant in the country, catering to about 35% of the electrical energy needs of the country at present. Along the journey, CEB invited the private sector to construct thermal and renewable power plants such as mini hydro, wind, and solar, and at present, the country has five thermal power plants and about 250 small-scale renewable power plants owned by the private sector, in addition to about 34,000 roof solar connections. CEB has also absorbed a significant percentage (30-50%) of renewable energy into the electrical grid during the last many years. In the last few weeks itself, CEB generated 70% of our electricity using renewable sources, due to the heavy rains. CEB expanded the transmission and distribution network to transport power from generation stations to the customer during this journey. During the last five decades, customer service has improved significantly, and CEB serves the customer better through a network of offices located around the country and adoption of new technology. Digital payment schemes are also established which permits customers to pay their bills online. This gives them the convenience that our previous generation lacked. The technical and non-technical losses are now brought down to about 9.0%, which was previously reported as 21%. CEB offers low tariffs for low end domestic and industrial customers, which is stress relief financially. Who are the public servants who played a key role in this organisation?There were a number of eminent personalities who managed and played a key role in CEB during these 52 years as chairmen and general managers. Among the chairmen there were renowned engineers and highly respected professionals. The general managers were appointed within the CEB, and all were brilliant electrical engineers who served long years. CEB has had excellent human capital from inception. Engineers, other professionals, superintendents, technicians, and other staff who served CEB during these 52 years contributed immensely to uplift the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation, and to serve the country by providing electricity to the nation. At present, about 25,000 employees serve CEB across the country. What are the challenges in implementing CEB’s future plans? Our future plans should focus on four major thrust areas: Meeting future power generation capacity based on low carbon technologies and renewable energy using appropriate business models; expansion and modernisation of the grid to enhance reliability and to integrate large quantities of renewable energy and distributed generation etc.; enabling seamless digital customer experience; and business excellence through digital transformation.CEB has formulated ambitious plans to reimagine the future. However, every plan has its own set of challenges that need to be combated in order to see it through till the end. Criticisms pop up regularly, but the key is to move forward doing the right things. Objections would pop up whenever CEB wishes to construct a power plant, transmission line, distribution line etc. Lots of challenges are brought up in meeting environmental and social issues, as many believe the idea of “not in my backyard” nowadays. Financing strategic plans is also a challenge, as the country is facing difficulty raising loans for infrastructure development. In that context, it is envisaged to invite investors as much as possible to develop power plants and other feasible infrastructure of the CEB using appropriate business models. The support of bi-lateral, multilateral agencies are also essential to develop certain infrastructure which cannot be developed by means of investments. CEB at present commenced discussions with the Ministry and Treasury to identify appropriate business models for the implementation of its plans. Plans need to be converted into physical projects for implementation. These strategic projects cannot be completed overnight. Continuous engagement of the implementation process of the projects is essential to mitigate challenges that will come across. How will the CEB address the country’s growing power demands, especially with projects like Port City on the horizon?Traditional sources used for power generation by the CEB are hydro, coal, diesel, and furnace oil. CEB plans to introduce new sources for power generation to increase the share of clean energy in power generation. As per the recent policy decision taken by the Government, 70% of the electrical energy in the country should be generated through renewable energy sources by 2030. In that context, CEB has to absorb large quantities of renewable power for its power generation in the coming years, which mainly consist of wind and solar power. In addition, CEB plans to deploy Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the power generation in Colombo-based power plants from the year 2024 onwards, which will bring down the cost of power generation and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in power generation significantly. Deployment of large quantities of renewable energy and natural gas for power generation will significantly reduce the power generation from diesel and furnace oil and CEB plans to bring down use of diesel for power generation to about 1% by the year 2030. Introduction of large quantities of renewable power and natural gas will also increase the energy security of the country. CEB also launched a project for the construction of 7,000 small scale ground-based solar PV power plants of 75 kW in capacity in close proximity to the existing distribution substations in rural areas through the private sector. The timely construction of power plants as per the least cost long term generation plan of the CEB is essential to meet the power demand of the future. Continuous engagement of the implementation of power generation projects is essential to mitigate challenges that will come across. The continuous support from all the stakeholders of the CEB, including the support of the general public, is essential for the timely and successful implementation of power plants. In 2019, Sri Lanka faced power cuts due to a drought. Does this risk still exist?The risk of power cuts cannot be ruled out, as the country could not construct a single large scale dispatchable power plant during the last seven years. The country should have adequate base load power plants to face any emergency situation. CEB could provide continuous power to its customers in the year 2020 and 2021 due to reduced demand caused by the Covid pandemic situation and more than average rainfall received in our catchment areas. In fact, the year 2021 is one of the best wet years for the CEB, and we received an extraordinary amount of rain in our catchment areas. Adequate number of dispatchable power plants are essential to meet the demand. We are happy that one 350MW Combined Cycle power plant is now being constructed in Kerawalapitiya and will be commissioned in the year 2023 to meet the demand. The risk of power shedding cannot be ruled out until the required number of power plants are constructed. Is it feasible for Sri Lanka to power the entire grid via renewable energy?There was a time in the 70s where 95% of the electrical energy in Sri Lanka was met through renewable energy, mainly through major hydro power plants. Major hydro power plants are dispatchable power plants and provide all ancillary services to the grid and are not intermittent. Therefore, if a country has adequate hydro power, the electricity demand can be totally met from hydro power, and the entire grid can be powered from renewable energy. One such country is Norway. In the present day Sri Lankan scenario, the major contributor hydro contributes about 30%, mini hydro 6%, solar 2.5%, and wind about 2% for power generation in average weather conditions. The hydro potential in the country is now harnessed to a greater extent, and therefore the contribution from major hydro for the energy mix of the country will reduce in the future to about 20% by the year 2030. Therefore we need other sources for power generation. Among the other renewable sources, solar and wind are significant in Sri Lanka. As per the 70% renewable scenario, the contribution from solar and wind for the electrical energy mix of the country by the year 2030 should be 22% and 15% respectively. As the wind and solar are intermittent in nature and do not provide ancillary services for the grid to maintain the grid stability, it is essential to have large dispatchable power plants run on fossil fuel to cater for the issues of the intermittency of solar and wind. Therefore, in the present day context, it is not possible to power the entire grid of Sri Lanka from renewable sources. However if battery technology, distribution generation, and other technologies have improved and create workable business models, one day the entire grid can be powered from renewable energy sources. The trade unions were previously threatening a 48-hour blackout. Considering the potential impact to the public, economy, and foreign investors; how are negotiations with unions usually conducted, and do they normally carry out their threats?CEB has about 60 trade unions, and the majority of them are responsible trade unions. They bargain for their rights and demands, but do not keep their customers on ransom to win their demands. The last occasion trade unions actually implemented a total blackout was in the year 1996 against the privatisation of the Lanka Electricity Company. Since then, trade unions of the CEB did not go for power cuts to win their demands. The CEB management always discusses issues with trade unions and tries to resolve the issues before they escalate to an unmanageable level. Concerning the New Fortress energy deal, is there a credible risk in giving a foreign company a monopoly over the supply of LNG, and is the “take-or-pay” commitment a norm in the industry and potentially disadvantageous to Sri Lanka?Deployment of LNG to Colombo-based power plants in Sri Lanka is a complex process, and the process should be carefully managed to achieve benefits to the country. The industry best practice is to unbundle the procurement of the LNG and the LNG infrastructure to invite more competition to the sector and also to maintain the transparency in the value chain. A vertically integrated private entity managing the import, storage, regasification and distribution of gas to power plants hamper the competition and impede the advantages of competition. Many countries keep the function of procurement of LNG in government control to maintain higher energy security in the country. Since the government policy is to go for a 70% renewable scenario by 2030, priority should be given to absorb renewable energy to the national grid. Therefore it is utmost important to procure LNG in appropriate quantities without going for large take-or-pay contracts. The CEB should have the freedom to procure required quantities at its wish. What can the public do to help the CEB?The continuous support from all the stakeholders of the CEB, including the support of the general public, is essential for the timely and successful implementation of strategic plans of the CEB. CEB seeks the support from all stakeholders, including the general public, to implement their plans to reimagine CEB to enrich the life of our people through power.
