Electricity must be affordable to all

The speech by Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne at the 12th Annual General Meeting of the Electrical Engineering Society of the University of Moratuwa, held at HNB Tower auditorium recently.

POWER SHORTAGE: It is well known that the power sector plays a major role for the economic and social development of the country.

All countries need technological advancements in their economies in order to ensure a rapid economic development and modern technology is inherently based on electrical energy. Also, the link between electricity and the quality of life in a country is undeniable.

At present, Sri Lanka has a total installed capacity of 2500 MW that serves a population of 20 million.

Compare these figures with those of Singapore: a total installed capacity of 10,000 MW serving a population of 4.5 million - a country almost 90 times smaller than Sri Lanka. A population of one fourth that of Sri Lanka which uses four times more electricity.

The per capita income of Singapore is 25 times more than ours. These figures highlight how woefully inadequate Sri Lanka’s performance has been in terms of meeting energy requirements.

A vital requirement when delivering electricity to its population in a developing nation is that it must be affordable to a majority of the population.

Unfortunately this is exactly what is lacking in the Sri Lankan electricity sector. These high prices of electricity makes Sri Lanka less competitive as an investors’ preferred choice for investment environment.

Therefore, not only must electricity in Sri Lanka be cheap, but also the tariff structure must progress from one of discouraging to an encouraging one. This is the hallmark of development of a nation and the goal to be achieved by Sri Lanka.

We are quite aware that coal is the cheapest source of power that can be developed in order to change the present discouraging tariff structure to an encouraging one. As a first step towards achieving this goal, work on the Norochcholai coal power plant has already begun with the aid of Chinese government.

It has been calculated that the electricity demand in Sri Lanka will be in the range of 3000 MW by the year 2010.

The first stage of the Norochcholai power plant which consists of three stages is due to be completed in 2011 with a capacity of 300 MW. The other two stages of 300 MW each are due to be completed thereafter within a shorter period.

Hence the government is confident that the Plant will be able to produce electricity at the price of Rs. 6 to Rs. 7 per unit once it is completed.

In comparison the present cost of oil based electricity production is Rs. 12.50 per unit.

Other initiatives of the Government include thermal power plant at Kerawalapitiya which is scheduled to be completed towards the end of 2008 with the capacity of 200 MW.

Up to now Sri Lanka has been largely dependant on thermal and hydro electricity. In order to realise the requirements of our energy security and our drive towards a more indigenous generation mix Sri Lanka must move into renewable sources such as mini-hydro, wind and solar power. The current installed capacity of wind power in Sri Lanka is just 3 MW.

But the available wind power capacity is much more. Further being a tropical country more widespread use of solar power for rural electrification must be encouraged through various incentives.