The future of power

The current drought has given us much to mull about in terms of power generation capacity and emergency measures. Our hydropower reservoirs are only making a minimal contribution to the national grid in this backdrop and almost every other type of power plant is working at full capacity to fill the gap.

Sri Lanka does have an enviable track record in South Asia, as it is the only country which supplies power without any interruption to its citizens, 24 hours a day. Only the recent breakdowns in two power plants, combined with the ill effects of the drought, put a spoke in this wheel. Even then, the power cut was limited to three hours a day, on a staggered basis throughout the country.

As promised by the authorities, uninterrupted power was quickly restored in a matter of days and as is the habit of Sri Lankans, the ordeal was quickly forgotten.

However, we cannot afford to be complacent. While waiting and even praying for rain, we have to go ahead with more power projects to meet the expected future demand. This is even more important in the light of the predicament neighbouring India went through. Nearly half of the country was plunged into darkness after failures in the power grids. This is a nightmarish scenario that the authorities in Sri Lanka must strive to avoid at all costs.

Exchange

We are depending heavily on thermal power especially due to the lack of hydropower input. But being a net importer of fuel, this drains our foreign exchange resources as we have to import billions of dollars’ worth of fossil fuels just to keep our power plants going. Is there a way that we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, which are destined to be exhausted in a couple of centuries or so anyway? It necessarily has to be a long term plan.

This is why we have to look seriously at other sources of power generation, especially renewable sources of power, as opposed to non-renewables such as diesel. The authorities are now working towards realising this goal in the years to come. And don’t forget that hydropower too is a renewable source of energy, though the emphasis may have to shift to mini hydropower plants as we have exhausted possible locations for large-scale ones. Upper Kotmale is perhaps the last major large-scale hydropower facility we may see.

In fact, the authorities are confident of generating 35 percent of electricity through renewable energy sources by 2020 (just eight years away). Sustainable Energy Authority Director General Dr Thusitha Sugathapala has said 20 percent will be through mini hydro power, wind power, solar power and biomass power. Large scale hydro power plants will continue to generate around 15 percent. Right now, only seven percent of the country's energy requirement is generated by renewable sources.

The plan is to make every mini hydro power and wind power plant to generate 400 MW from 2020. In addition, each solar and bio max plant will generate 160 MW. The total amount of energy sourced from renewable energy will be 1120 MW.

A strategy must be drawn up for increasing the renewable input. All potential sites suitable for mini hydro plants must be identified. If the owners of such lands would like to set up mini hydro plants, they can be given financial and technical assistance where necessary. The plants will necessarily be integrated with the national grid.

Similarly, windy areas and areas that get more sunshine (if there are such places within an equatorial country like ours), should be identified for the possible construction of wind and solar farms. Wind and solar power plants are already being constructed in several areas, which is a harbinger of things to come. They should be linked to the national grid as soon as possible.

There is very little attention being paid to biomass, which can solve several problems at once, including that of waste disposal. A foreign company is designing such a plant, which we hope will be a beacon to other such initiatives. Like wind, solar and hydro, it too is an environmental-friendly technology that has much potential in this country.

There should be at least one biomass facility in each province. Being an island, Sri Lanka can pursue another solution - wave power.

Waves

Generating electricity from ocean waves is already possible and there are a few such plants around the world. In a way, it is not much different from normal hydropower generation, but one has to take into account the different factors at play in the ocean, such as bigger currents. The costs too are higher. Sri Lanka should look at these developments with a view to having a similar facility in the decades to come when wave power will be much more commonplace.

We tend to think big when it comes to power generation, but we must also think small. Just the other day, I saw an advertisement by a reputed company for a solar power lighting system (four bulbs) targeted for residences that costs a fairly affordable Rs.30,000, especially when spread over several instalments. (Remember, they used to cost many times more just a couple of years earlier and prices are falling as we write).

This also compares very favourably with the price of a petrol or diesel driven generator.

Almost every day, we see demonstrations by villagers in one part of the country or another, urging the CEB to provide them with electricity. We can understand their plight and frustration, but the stark reality is that there are certain ‘difficult’ villages which may be out of reach of physical power lines due to reasons of terrain, logistics and massive cost, at least in the short term. In other words, it may not be cost effective to provide mains power to such villages. However, the villagers’ demand is legitimate and reasonable.

The solution could be solar power modules which can power a few LED or CFL light bulbs, a television set (today’s LED TVs are very power efficient) and a radio set. The authorities can step in to grant concessions to villagers who opt to have solar power. This will be an intermediate solution at least until the power infrastructure reaches a stage where it can cover even the most difficult terrain in the country. We are not sure whether the same approach works with wind power, but solar power is a proven solution.

Finally, there really is no better solution than saving what we already have. So do turn off unnecessary bulbs and appliances, it can save you lots of cash and the country, tons of foreign exchange.