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From darkness to light

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16 March 2016 12:26 am - 0     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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In the aftermath of blackout Sunday, a crisis and a multitude of questions have arisen over vital power supplies with our feature writer analyzing it on page 12 in an article with an imaginative headline, ‘Who is the devil behind the darkness?’. 


Before looking for or blaming some devil, Sri Lanka’s people need to become aware that an enlightened act of patriotism in these days of catastrophic climate change would be to save electricity. Switching off unnecessary lights and using electrical appliances only when essential are sacred deeds. If every person could save a few Watts of electricity every day the total saving for a month or a year could be as much as scores of thermal power generators produce. 


Power and Energy Ministry Secretary Suren Batagoda told Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka faced a shortfall of some 300 MW of electricity daily. He urged the people to cooperate by reducing the use of electricity. Most people are likely to respond positively if the proper example is set by political leaders, some of whom appeared to look at this issue light-heartedly.

The Ceylon Electricity Board also needs to act fast in working out a package of incentives or discounts for households which reduce the number of units they use. The ministry secretary said that when a transformer tripped as did the Biyagama transformer last Sunday, it caused a disturbance at the controversial Norochcholai power plant due to the way it was designed. 


For several decades environmental activists led by Chilaw’s late Bishop Frank Marcus Fernando had campaigned actively against the plan to set up the Norochcholai coal-fired power plant. But the former Rajapaksa regime which maintained close ties with China gave approval for construction to begin on May 11, 2006. The first unit was commissioned on March 22, 2011 and since then there have been regular breakdowns at Norochcholai with some critics questioning the quality of the machinery. 


Coal-fired power plants are not built in China. But we are supposed to believe that what is not good for the Ali Baba China is good for Sri Lanka. As if Norochcholai was not enough, even the new national government is allowing India to go ahead with the coal-fired power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee, though residents and environmental activists are objecting to it.

One of the main promises of the national government was that it would put the country first. Thus serious and valid questions are being raised about whether Sri Lanka should allow more pollution of our country just for the sake of maintaining good relations with our neighbour India.


When a similar power outage took place on February 25, an angry Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said such setbacks were unacceptable and appointed a committee to find the devil or devils behind the darkness. What happened to that committee report is shockingly similar to what has happened to many such committees which most people consider as a waste of time and money. After the March 13 blackout, the worst since 1996, President Maithripala Sirisena also has appointed a committee. Whatever that committee does or does not do, the President has gone a step further and ordered the military to provide security for 100 major power transmission centres throughout the country. 


According to this week’s CEB figures, thermal (coal) provides 42.4% of our power requirements, thermal (oil) 22.15%, IPP thermal (oil) 14.31%, Laxapana Complex Hydro 9.62%, Mahaweli Complex Hydro 8.17%, Samanala Wewa 2.93%, Kukule Ganga 0.12%, CEB Small Hydro 0.12% and Wind 0.18%. 


Sri Lanka is going through some of the hottest days in history and last Sunday’s blackout punch was possibly necessary to bring people to their senses on the need to conserve electrical energy. So while the people cooperate by using less electricity, the government also needs to consider various options. Environmental specialist Dr. Ranil Senanayake has proposed that power supplies be de-centralized while other economists are proposing partial privatization.

In the long term we hope the government will encourage Sri Lankan experts and even get advice from foreign experts on how to get more power from solar, wind and other renewable sources of energy. Some of the world’s biggest billionaires including Bill Gates are offering hundreds of millions of dollars to creative experts who develop sources of renewable energy. We urge the national government also to invest heavily in this mission to find renewable sources of energy instead of continuing wasteful expenditure, luxuries and extravagance such as the proposed new package of perks and privileges for MPs. 


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Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

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