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PUC pulls the plug on CEB’s power generation plan
Hard on the heels of COP21, an international conference of world leaders who met to try and stem the disastrous effects of global warming, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of Sri Lanka has rejected the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) new Long-term Generation Expansion Plan and directed the utility to submit a revised version that will make provision for renewable energy like wind and solar power.
PUC officials said the blueprint will not be approved until its shortcomings are addressed. The CEB is required to release a Long-term Generation Expansion Plan once every two years. Before it is published, the regulator must pass it.
“We identified a lot of problems this time,” said Sameera Adikaram, PUC Assistant Director (Security of Supply). “The CEB had used some outdated figures and also planned only for coal power plants.
After 2020, only coal power plants are in their plan. That’s not the actual practice now. The world trend is to reduce carbon emissions and to go for sustainable methods. Coal power plants are the most environmentally damaging plants.”
The latest draft plan was submitted to the regulator in August this year. It was released on the PUC’s website and public comments obtained, once through a forum.
The regulator then studied the plan using certain parameters and modeling software. “We put everything to the Commission members and came to a decision to approve the plan,” Mr. Adikaram said. “We asked the CEB to resubmit the plan after taking certain factors into consideration.”
Certain quarters in the CEB do not approve of renewable energy, protesting that this cannot be integrated into the system.
But the last Government took a policy decision to significantly improve the share of electricity produced from sustainable sources like wind and solar. The PUC said the CEB should study this option further through modeling.
“It’s a process,” said Bandula Thilakasena, CEB Additional General Manager (Corporate Strategy). “We have been having consultations with regard to certain matters. The approval process is on and clarifications have been sought.”
There will have to be certain amendments and presentation of other scenarios, including renewable energy plants, Mr. Adikaram reiterated. He also said the PUC will publish all these details on its website by Wednesday.
“After holding public consultations, we did not release any information to the people and other stakeholders who took part,” he explained. “We plan to publish the comments we received.
We will also publish the issues raised with the CEB, the CEB’s clarifications and finally the amendments requested.”