Country’s fuel guzzling costs USD 13 million per day

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Sri Lanka spent about USD 13 million a day on fuel, Co-Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said on Tuesday (08) during the post-Cabinet Press briefing.

“We need to think about renewables. This is why the President set an ambitious goal of having 70% of electricity generated by renewables by 2030. Previous governments also tried to increase renewables,” he said.

The Minister said that the Cabinet of Ministers had discussed the current power crisis in depth and decided to supply adequate quantities of furnace oil to power plants in Embilipitiya, Matara and Sapugaskanda so they could become operational.

“During the meeting Minister of Energy, Gamini Lokuge said that the current fuel crisis would be solved by next Thursday (17). Minister of Power, Pavithra Wanniarachchi presented a proposal on reducing power cuts until the monsoon season,” he said.

Minister Alahapperuma added that the existing laws did not encourage people to set up rooftop or commercial solar systems. The Ministry of Mass Media in February installed a solar power system and it was capable of generating about 12,000 units of electricity a month, he said.

“Our monthly need in the Ministry is about 6000-7000 units a month. We need to encourage solar, wind and hydro. We need to change laws and make these financially viable,” he said.