Energy & Utilities
From The Report: Sri Lanka 2016
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In 2015 and early 2016 the state rolled out a series of reforms and initiatives aimed at shoring up the country’s energy industry, including expanding the national electricity grid, particularly in rural areas; developing new renewable energy sources; opening up the hydrocarbons sector to greater foreign investment; and working to introduce a new fuel pricing formula, which has the potential to improve the economics of the domestic energy business dramatically. These and other changes have been put forward as part of a sector development plan covering 2015-25 conceived by the Ministry of Power and Energy (MoPE). Along with a number of additional medium- and long-term strategies for the sector the MoPE’s efforts are expected to contribute to an uptick in energy sector investment in Sri Lanka. Indeed, the 2015-25 plan is a key step towards achieving the government’s objective of 100% energy self-sufficiency by 2030.

This chapter contains an interview with Damitha Kumarasinghe, Director-General, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Power surge: The new government has set out to rejuvenate the nation’s energy and utilities industries
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In a manifesto released in the run-up to Sri Lanka’s 2015 presidential election, Maithripala Sirisena, the then-presidential candidate for the New Democratic Front party, put energy sector reform at the top of the agenda, noting that “energy constitutes one of the foremost factors deciding the future of the country”. Since winning the election, Sirisena’s government has followed up on this campaign promise. In 2015 and early 2016 the state rolled out a series of reforms and initiatives aimed…

Interview

Powering up: OBG talks to Damitha Kumarasinghe, Director-General, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka
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Interview:Damitha Kumarasinghe How would Sri Lanka benefit from building a grid interconnection with India? DAMITHA KUMARASINGHE: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries have all agreed in principal on an integrated SAARC grid. India is already connected to Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. In Sri Lanka’s case, we are, along with the Maldives, the only country still not connected to the subcontinent. A feasibility study regarding interconnection was carried out…

Analysis

Tapping in: Offshore deposits mean that the country could become a hydrocarbons producer in the coming years
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The offshore Mannar Basin has seen an influx of energy-related activity in the past decade. Since 2007 exploration carried out in Mannar – which is part of the Laccadive Sea and the Indian Ocean – has yielded evidence of considerable oil and gas deposits. As of early 2016, however, commercial production has not yet started, and Sri Lanka continues to meet its hydrocarbons demand through imports, primarily from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. This situation is widely expected to change…

Analysis

Producing power: The state recently launched a new long-term electricity generation plan
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In late February and early March 2016 Sri Lanka suffered a series of island-wide power outages, setting off a cascade of automatic shutdowns across the country’s power generation and transmission infrastructure. Some facilities – including the 900-MW Puttalam coal plant in Norochcholai, the largest power plant in the country – were offline for more than three days while the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) worked to restore service, causing by some estimates the worst failure in 20 years. A similar…

Analysis

Sustainable generation: The role of renewable power sources is set to expand
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In a post on Twitter in late November 2015, Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, wrote, “[Sri Lanka] has great potential to generate renewable energy, and it’s essential that we encourage and inspire investors’ focus towards it.” The statement served to reiterate the government’s commitment to the development of sustainable energy sources and, more broadly, to comprehensive energy reform (see overview). Indeed, Sirisena campaigned as an energy reform candidate in the 2015 presidential…