The Association of Renewable Energy Suppliers has alleged that due to the arbitrary action of the Secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy and the dormant policy of some officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board, the country is at risk of losing 1200 MW of electricity capacity.
Renewable energy suppliers say that if the national system loses the electricity capacity generated by renewable energy, there will be more hours of power cuts in the future.
They said that the national system has a capacity of 1200 megawatts from small-scale hydro projects, solar, wind and bioenergy sources, which is very cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Still, the authorities do not give it any priority.
When a group of officers of his union went to the Ministry of Power to discuss the next steps needed for the continuation of renewable power projects, the secretary agreed to give only a five-minute discussion.
They alleged that the government’s policy is to use renewable energy at a level of 70%, but the responsible officials are acting in a completely different manner.
This was revealed at a news conference held in Colombo by Prabhath Wickramasinghe, representing the Association of Renewable Energy Suppliers, Warna Dahanayake, Pathmanatha Poddiwala, Lasith Wimalasena.
