CEB-JICA deal signed:

National 25-yr master plan for electricity supply

Chief Representative, JICA Sri Lanka Office, Kiyoshi Amada and General Manager, CEB, M.C. Wickremesekera exchange the agreement.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently signed a technical cooperation agreement to draw up an electricity sector master plan for power utility to forecast demand and supply and introduce new forms of energy over the next 25 years.

Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office, Kiyoshi Amada said they hope to develop a comprehensive 25-year master plan for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

"The project will cover new technical challenges which the CEB as an implementing organisation may face by 2040, such as expansion of non-conventional renewable energy sources, private sector participation, pumped storage power plants, optimal operation of coal thermal power plants, railway electrification and use of local gas and LNG," he said.

The project will also include developing financial strategy by reviewing and analysing financial figures such as present tariff level, cost structure and borrowing capacity of the CEB.