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CEB Engineers to ‘push’ MS towards “clean coal power plants”
The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU), due to meet President Sirisena on Tuesday (21) say, they would attempt to convince President Maithripala Sirisena towards accepting “clean coal power plants” amidst warnings that the country risked spiraling towards a major power crisis.
CEBEU President Athural Wanniarachchi stressed there was no “low cost solution” to the current drought induced power crisis. “We believe the Government would have to spend Rs 50 billion over six months to mitigate the effects of this crisis,” he added. “The expected power crisis in 2018/19, meanwhile, could be met effectively, if the planned power plants at Kerawalapitiya and Hambantota are built on time,” he also said.
Power crises, however, would be an ever present threat to the country even afterwards, according to Mr. Wanniarachchi, with severe power shortages expected in 2022/23. The Union believes this could not be be effectively met if the Government persists in not building any other coal power plants in the country. To this end, the CEBEU President said they would try to convince the President on the merits of going ahead with a proposed “clean coal power plant” to be built utilising a soft loan from Japan.
In May 2016, President Sirisena asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert the proposed Indian-funded coal power plant in Sampur to a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant. The President is also the Minister of Environment and has made renewable energy the focus when meeting the country’s electricity needs. When asked how the union planned to convince the President to accept another coal power plant, Mr. Wanniarachchi said, “The Japanese clean coal power plant was equivalent to the coal power plants that continue to function even near the Japanese capital of Tokyo. It would be a lot more environmentally friendly than the Indian plant,” he argued. “The situation is unsustainable. We can’t continue to pay exorbitant amounts to purchase electricity from fuel oil and diesel power plants, which are a drain on the economy,” he continued.
He further warned that the Union has decided to insist on the construction of low cost power plants that are proposed for construction after 2020 in the CEB’s Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP). “The Union would also oppose attempts to introduce new and, what it calls, expensive fuel oil and diesel power plants under the guise of ‘natural gas’ plants into the LTGEP. If such attempts continue, the Engineers are prepared to even initiate trade union action,” he warned.