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Cabinet approves new electricity policy with a “firm energy mix”
View(s):Cabinet has approved a new Electricity policy envisaging a “firm energy mix” constituting 30% Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or, indigenous natural gas, and 30% high-efficient coal power.
The balance 40% will be made up of 25% hydro-power and 15% from furnace oil which is a byproduct from local refineries and non-conventional renewable energy sources. These ratios were proposed in a joint Cabinet memorandum presented recently by the Ministry of Power & Energy and the Ministry of Special Assignments.
The policy calls for the acceptance, in principle, “the necessity of strategically developing all the practically developable energy sources, and exploiting the non-conventional alternative renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, biomass, geothermal, wave and solid waste and high efficient coal power technologies, LNG, indigenously available natural gas and nuclear power, in a timely and appropriate manner”.
Outlining the background, the policy states that, according to the relevant legislation, all power plants established to cater to the country’s electricity demand, should be included in the Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP) reviewed every two years.
However, as the LTGEP prepared by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for the period 2018-2037 has been approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) “modifying it almost completely, the CEB has refused to accept that”.
A previous Cabinet memorandum on ‘Deciding Energy Mix in Electricity Generation in Sri Lanka’ was presented in November last year. It primarily proposed there should be a mix comprising all energy sources to ensure energy security.
That memorandum, according to the latest Cabinet paper, had “stressed that coal power should be there in the energy mix of the country. As environmental conservation is a primary policy objective, it has been proposed to employ clean coal technologies using super critical or ultra-super critical coal,” the paper states. It has also proposed that 30% of power generation be met using LNG.
When it was forwarded by Cabinet to PUCSL for observations, the Regulator said it was not possible to recommend all the policies in that memorandum. “Even the important policies included there, such as environmental conservation and development of indigenous renewable energy sources, have not been recommended,” the latest paper said. It cites the Power & Energy Ministry as saying that “most of the facts and figures included in the observations of the PUCSL are based on assumptions”.
“We are of the view that it is not possible to prepare policies on national issues based on such assumptions,” the paper asserts. Last month, the Power & Energy Ministry submitted a report on it to the National Economic Council set up by President Maithripala Sirisena.
“It was stressed through this, that the power for preparing policies for the Electricity sector are vested with the relevant Minister and the Cabinet,” the latest Cabinet paper states. As a result, the Power & Energy Ministry submitted the Energy policy for approval.