We have heard of power stations being retired when they outlive their efficiency and usefulness and/or become redundant or potentially dangerous. But Sri Lanka is planning to make some power plants take a break, as it were, during the weekends. It has been alleged that a plan is underway to curtail renewable power generation during the weekends because the grid infrastructure cannot handle excess power, especially on Sundays, when there is a lower demand for electricity.
Earlier, the CEB was complaining of a shortfall in power supply, and now it is grumbling about excess power generation.
The National Electricity Consumers’ Association has written to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), seeking the latter’s intervention to prevent the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) from causing a grave injustice to the producers of renewable power. It has alleged a sinister plan to boost thermal power generation, which is not only more expensive but also highly injurious to people’s health. It has called for a probe into the alleged move, which, it says, will be a body blow for renewable power generation—the cornerstone of the future power and energy landscape. The power sector is in the clutches of several Mafias, which are not well-disposed towards renewable power generation for obvious reasons. The NPP government was expected to clean up the power and energy sectors, but it, too, is moving along the same rut as its predecessors, whose leaders were accused of lining their pockets at the expense of the public.
Last month’s nationwide power outage, which left the government and the CEB groping in the dark, was first blamed on a monkey and subsequently on excess solar power generation on Sundays. The poor monkey which came into contact with a transformer at a CEB substation in Panadura and perished became internationally known posthumously thanks to the government’s absurd claim!
Now, there is an alleged move to discourage solar and hydro power generation during the weekends. The NPP came to power, pledging to end what it called a 76-year curse that had troubled the country since Independence. Has the so-called curse been renewed under the current administration?
The government and the CEB have not responded to the aforesaid allegation, and their side of the story should be heard. It is hoped that they will provide a clarification without further delay. Their silence will only lend credence to their critics’ claims. The alleged move to reduce renewable power generation during the weekends, in our book, is a solution like the harebrained ones legendary Mahadenamutta (a nitwit posing as a pundit) offered to the problems he was requested to solve.
When a goat had its head stuck in a pot, Mahadenamutta got the animal beheaded first in a bid to save the clay vessel, which was then smashed, at his behest, to extricate the caprine head! One can only hope that Sri Lanka’s power sector will not suffer the same fate as the proverbial goat. Successive governments have had in their ranks many Mahadenamuttas. The current dispensation is no exception; some of its members are at the butt end of social media jokes, having measured power output in ‘tons’ and speed ‘in light years’!
Curiously, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a solar power plant in Sampur, during his Sri Lanka visit, early next month. A layman is at a loss to understand why any more solar power projects should be launched if the national grid cannot cope with an increase in renewable power. Will the new power plant to be built also have to idle during the weekends? The government owes an explanation.
There has been a proposal for introducing lower tariffs for power consumed during the weekends to encourage factories, etc., to operate on Saturdays and Sunday, thereby reducing the country’s demand for electricity on other days and helping curtail the expensive thermal power generation. The government should give serious thought to implementing this proposal.
Power corrupts, whether political or otherwise. The PUCSL should launch a stakeholder feedback initiative to consult all those engaged in the power sector, as well as independent experts, on how to increase the renewable power generation and upgrade the grid. The NPP government should launch a power sector clean-up under its Clean Sri Lanka initiative if it is not to be bracketed with its corrupt predecessors.
