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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Private sector welcomes proposals to resolve power crisis The private sector has welcomed the decisions made by the government by way of concessions and increasing payments for privately generated electricity to solve the power crisis faced by the country. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has urged its direct and indirect membership to conserve and self generate power using the new incentive scheme announced to tide over the crisis. Chairman of CCC Chandra Jayaratne has told its membership that "In this period of crisis, it is essential that all commercial and industrial establishments adopt every possible strategy to conserve the draw-down of power from the national grid." He has said that the government has positively responded to the suggestion that private sector establishments with the capacity to generate their own power be incentivised to use their own power generating sets beyond the power cut and thereby alleviate the demand on Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) power. The CEB last week called on industrial and commercial customers of CEB who are having generators of 100 kVA and above to participate in the self-generation scheme. Under this scheme, a unit of electricity generated and consumed by the customer will be paid at the rate of Rs. 8.70 per KWH and sold back to the customer at the prevailing tariff rate of Rs. 5.70. The benefit will be three rupees. According to the announcement, the scheme will initially be operated till end of March. Mr Jayaratne has said that though the framework incentive is announced, it may not be at an optimum level acceptable generally to all owners of commercial generator sets. The CCC has appealed to its members, their subsidiaries and associates and members of all affiliated associations and business councils to use their internal generating capacity to the maximum permissable level with immediate effect. He has said that arrangements should be made for metering and registration with the CEB for incentive payments. Mr Jayaratne has said: "It is essential that we in the private sector support the government to effectively manage the present power crisis. It is our earnest appeal that the entire capacity for self generation be utilised. He has also requested members who are capable of generating power from their own generators beyond the requirement of their establishments to consider the sale of such excess capacity to the national grid. Vice President, National Chamber of Exporters, Kingsley Bernard, welcoming the decision, said: "It was a bold decision taken by the government amidst the availability of limited options." He said that the government must give the option to sell the excess power to the vicinity even if it is a small capacity without limiting it to big capacities. The pricing of purchasing power from persons who have excess capacity should be based on a realistic estimate as proper pricing is necessary. He said that when importing power generating equipment, a proper assessment has to be done because equipment such as charging lamps consume electricity, thereby reducing the overall effect. Another option would be to reduce the prices of CFL bulbs as these bulbs save electricity, he said. Mr Bernard was of the view that the country has not put the right emphasis on saving power and making the best use of it as it is as essential as generating power. He said that round the clock operations such as ceramics and glass factories are affected to a large extent by the present power crisis. President Sri Lanka Chamber of Small Industries Aloy Jayawardena said: "Probably the government has given these incentives thinking of the big industries and not us, the small and medium scale entrepreneurs who represent 70 per cent of the industrial sector." "We are struggling to exist, saddled with loans and difficulty in selling the products. Therefore, we are not in a position to invest on generators," he added. Mr Jayawardena said: "The government should not expect the SMI sector to invest on generators because we have been going through tremendous agony. Instead the government should supply power without interruption." He said that the government should have considered the sector of power as the priority and found solutions before going for the 100 day programme. Concessions for the private sector *Encourage the private sector to use their own generators by paying three rupees fee for each unit they are producing for their use. *Increase the amount paid by the CEB for power generated by mini hydro operators by 15 per cent. *Issue licences to private institutions and persons who are interested in installing mini hydro power projects by using 52 waterfalls identified by the CEB. *Encourage the private sector to establish wind power projects to be connected to the national grid. An advertisement calling for expressions of interest will be published. It is expect that power generation capacity will be increased by another 100 MW with the completion of these projects. A Danish company has already completed a feasibility report and has identified several places including Puttalam as more feasible areas for establishing wind power projects. *Create a more conducive environment for the private sector to participate in power generation by amending existing laws. |
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