Pilot project in Galle to transmit electricity through underground cables

By Ifham Nizam

Plans were afoot to launch a pilot project to establish an electricity distribution network in Galle for the first time using underground cables, Power and Energy Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.

Speaking at the Galle District Rural Infrastructure Development Committee meeting under the National Programme for the Upliftment of the Rural Economy held on Sunday, Alahapperuma said: “We are grateful to the President, the Prime Minister and Senior Presidential Adviser Basil Rajapaksa for setting the stage for the implementation of development programmes without sacrificing the National Development Agenda of providing relief to the people.

Minister Alahapperuma said electricity was a basic need and essential service to the people. At present 99.6 percent of the people in the Galle District had been provided with electricity. There were only 2,730 families without electricity. “We are ready to supply electricity to that group before the end of 2022.”

The Minister said the President’s policy programme was focussed on renewable energy.

Minister Alahapperuma said that the Prime Minister had allocated financial allocations for solar energy projects from the last budget. But the expansion of renewable energy in the Galle District had not yet been successful. Only 919 houses in the district had solar panels installed on their roofs. “Therefore, within this year, we have made arrangements to convert homes and offices in the district into solar power plants and to expand the new project.”

Alahapperuma also said plans had been prepared to launch a pilot project to generate electricity using waste.