Solar companies awaiting new tariff
The Solar Industries Association is awaiting a justifiable tariff scheme for solar-powered schemes by next month.
“We have discussed with the Power and Energy Minister and relevant officials along with the tariff committee to agree upon a new tariff for the solar companies as buying prices must improve to attract new investors and consumers to the industry,” Kushan Jayasuriya, Solar Industries Association (SIA) Sri Lanka President told the Business Times. He pointed out that there should be an understanding of the volatility at this time when deciding on the new tariff which should also reflect the macroeconomic situation in the country. “High Treasury bill interest rates also need to be considered when deciding the new tariff. Considering the delayed payments by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), it is a very long-term risk to investors and solar companies are taking with this tariff.”
He added that there is a concerted effort to fast-track the development of alternative rooftop solar power which will eliminate the need for power cuts.
The CEB strategy so far has been able to add as much fossil fuel-based energy such as coal and diesel and talk of natural gas as a feasible source. This approach from the CEB will most certainly lead to further tariff increases for the consumer.
SIA Secretary Lakmal Fernando told media on Thursday that the deployment of the solar rooftop is faster and because these systems are dispersed across the country, electricity supply to the grid can remain relatively stable compared to a single system breaking down such as the Norochcholai power plant. Up to 40,000 households have roof-mounted solar systems, and the industry hopes it could garner the necessary support to connect 300,000 new households every year with a 3 kilowatt (kW) system.
Sri Lanka has over 6.5 million electricity customers and only 40,000 of them have so far installed rooftop solar systems. “If Sri Lanka can convert around 20 per cent of these customers, which is a million customers, with rooftop solar systems, installing a 3 kW system per location, 3000 megawatts (3 gigawatts-GW) of energy can be added to the national grid,” Mr. Jayasurya said. Using conservative estimates of fossil fuel prices remaining at the current level and annual rupee depreciation being limited to 10 per cent, adding 3GW of rooftop solar systems can save the country up to US $ 3 billion over the next three years by lower fossil fuel purchases.
“This avoids the government having to incur large debts to set up coal or other fossil fuel plants. The substantial number of entrepreneurs and jobs created by the renewable energy industry can provide a boost to the economy,” Mr. Fernando said.
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