Power cuts:’Koheda yanne? Malle pol’

A news item claims, ‘President directs to pay Rs.80 billion to CPC’ to overcome the financial difficulties faced by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), especially the huge debt the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has to pay for purchase of oil. If the main reason is to purchase fuel and supply the CEB to avert power cuts, then the government is barking up the wrong tree or as the Sinhala saying goes ‘Koheda yanne? Malle pol.’ As Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya, in his inimical style of writing, says, “Sri Lanka does not have enough Power Plants to meet the demand. Even if all the money in the world is available to buy fuel, (I would add if all the world fuel is made available), with no outages of any plant, the capacity of the grid is simply not adequate to meet the customer demand. The 200-megawatt minimum shortage and the absence of 800 megawatt of new power plant can be hidden by ‘MINISTERIAL ORDER OR REGULATORY COMMISSION ORDER’, but not for long.”

In short and in understandable terms, the power outages are due to shortage of power plants to meet the demand and not shortage of fuel. Unless this is understood by the government and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), it will remain an eternal problem. What PUCSL does is not finding a solution but accommodating the problem.

It is necessary to expose to the public how this calamitous situation arose, originally in the year 2004 when the then Bishop of Chilaw raised a frivolous objection to setting up of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, as he feared that it would affect the holy Shrine at Talawila, specially due to government and PUCSL interference thereafter. Firstly, when a coal power plant was included in the Long Term Least Cost Generation plan by the CEB, PUCSL objected and finally it was agreed upon after a long delay. Then Maithripala Sirisena, on his visit to India, requested, instead of a Coal Power Plant at Sampur, an LNG plant. This was agreed upon and subsequently, when tenders were finalised for a 300 Mw plant Kerawalapitiya, the then minister intervened and wanted a Chinese company awarded the contract when the Tender Board recommended a local firm, which made the lowest bid. This resulted in a long-drawn objection, leading to seeking legal action for nearly four years, until the new government was elected. The other is the cancellation of an additional Coal Power Plant at Norochcholai by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and instructing the CEB to undertake renewable energy projects to meet a target of 70 percent by 2030 without consulting the CEB. These are only a few reasons, I can refer to, for the debacle we are in. Allow knowledgeable, experienced CEB engineers to prepare plans and support them to implement the same to avoid a power crisis. The brighter side is that private suppliers are making merry by dictating terms on the price the CEB has to pay per unit of electricity. Some allege that this power shortage is purposely created to line the pockets of corrupt politicians and officials who are in bed with private power suppliers.

It must be understood, that without additional power generation plants it is meaningless to settle the debt of the CEB, when the generation capacity is insufficient as pointed out by Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya, to meet the demand as stated earlier. This is amply proven by PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayaka, when in a news item titled ‘Situation will worsen unless enough fuel stocks arrive’ in The Island issue of 24 February, he maintains that the crisis is due to the fuel shortage, whereas the professional analysis is that it is due to the lack of adequate power generation plants to meet the rising demand. Based on the professional analysis, the question arises whether the PUCSL is a competent body to direct the CEB on this matter or any other. Or is the PUCSL concerned about only the existing problem and not a permanent solution.

Other countries employ experts to advise their governments and act accordingly but in our emerald Isle we engage experts and tell them what to do. That is our Mahadanamuttas’ way of solving problems, and we the followers of these Mahadenamuttas break our necks and cast our votes to carry on this tragicomedy. ‘Ut ab ordine chaos, sic ab absurditate veritas absurditas’ – As from order, chaos; so from absurdity, truth.

G.A.D. Sirimal

BORALESGAMUWA