Still scope for india-Sri Lanka energy cooperation despite Adani project cancellation - Dr. Debajit Palit

• To become developed, we have to consume a lot of energy. What we have seen is that almost all the developed countries have very high energy consumption
• Sri Lanka offers a good scope. If you generate electricity in Sri Lanka from wind and solar, but are unable to consume that entire energy, how do you create the demand?
• Sri Lanka does not have its own coal or enough oil. So it has to import them. By depending on imports, the country faces higher costs and supply risks.
• The equipment that you use to convert solar radiation into electricity and wind into electricity needs to be manufactured using different materials
• If you are generating electricity, somebody has to buy it. If your demand is in India, then you have to work out an arrangement with India that they get a project

Dr. Debajit Palit, an Indian scholar who has done extensive research on climate change and energy transition, speaks about Sri Lanka’s clean energy potential and the benefits of developing the sector. He is the Centre Head- Climate Change and Energy Transition – of Chintan Research Foundation in India. He was in Sri Lanka recently to attend a forum organised by Pathfinder Foundation. Chintan is a think tank started with initial support from India’s Adani group.

Q. How do you look at India-Sri Lanka collaboration in the energy sector, especially given Sri Lanka’s potential?
That is a very important question. You have to have a transmission connection between Sri Lanka and India. The northern part of Sri Lanka can be connected to the southern part of India, wherever the distance is the least. What’s the benefit? The main thing is that both countries can benefit from this collaboration. Now, Sri Lanka has a huge potential for both solar and wind, particularly in the northern part of Sri Lanka.
 India also has a huge potential for renewable energy in the southern part, particularly in Tamil Nadu—wind and offshore wind. India also has a huge demand for energy, and particularly clean energy. We have also made a commitment to become net-zero by 2070.
 Per capita energy consumption in India is currently one-third of the global average. We want to become developed by 2047.
 To become developed, we have to consume a lot of energy. What we have seen is that almost all the developed countries have very high energy consumption. Unless you start consuming energy for productive use, industrial purposes, and electrification, your path towards a developed status is not complete. We have to electrify most of our energy demand. You need electricity for that. That electricity has to be clean. That clean energy we have to get from different sources.
 Of course, we first try to see that India produces that clean energy. But then, because solar and wind are variable in nature, you cannot produce it the entire day. That means, day and night, there are seasonal variations, daily variations. So we have to get it from different sources. In this context, Sri Lanka offers a good scope.
 If you generate electricity in Sri Lanka from wind and solar, but are unable to consume that entire energy, how do you create the demand? If you can take it to the neighbouring countries, India is the neighbour. If you can put up this transmission line, then India can consume it. In the process, Sri Lanka gets a lot of revenue by selling that electricity. Electricity becomes another vector for trade. Bhutan is doing it with India very successfully. Bhutan has hydropower, but they don’t have enough demand to consume it within its country. So that is being sold to India. Bhutan’s per capita income has become almost like a developed country. Electricity trade is one of the major reasons for that. Sri Lanka can also utilise these resources.
More importantly, renewable energy is not like coal. If you don’t use coal, it remains. But in the case of wind, if you don’t use it, it blows away. If you are not using it today, that doesn’t mean that today’s wind is getting saved for tomorrow.
 The moment you start using it, you earn money in the process. That is one way that Sri Lanka and India benefit from getting a reliable source of electricity—a clean source of electricity. Sri Lanka does not have its own coal or enough oil. So it has to import them. By depending on imports, the country faces higher costs and supply risks. Switching to clean energy by 2050 would reduce this dependence and provide a steady, sustainable supply of electricity. If you use this clean energy, you won’t need to build new coal infrastructure. The same transmission lines can deliver thermal electricity from India to Sri Lanka. This way, you don’t tie up investments in a local coal plant, and any thermal power you need can be imported efficiently from India.
 Using the transmission line efficiently allows for optimal utilisation. Bhutan and Nepal provide good examples: during the dry season, when hydropower is low, they import electricity from India using the same lines. When water levels are high, they export surplus electricity back to India. This ensures the transmission infrastructure is fully utilised, generates revenue for the exporting country, and benefits both sides.
 A similar arrangement could work successfully between Sri Lanka and India. Particularly for solar power, under the One Sun, One World, One Grid initiative, India could support the development of such transmission lines, creating a mutually beneficial system for both countries.
Q. Regarding renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka, the new government recently halted the Adani projects in the northern region. How will it affect cooperation?
Despite this, there remains scope for Indian investment in Sri Lanka’s energy sector. The government has made its decision, but opportunities for collaboration still exist.
 Even the Adani Group withdrew from the project, having made its decision. What the government should now focus on is framing transparent rules and guidelines for private investment in the energy sector. Clear regulations would make it easier for different companies to participate, creating a level playing field. India provides a useful example, where private sector participation in energy is substantial and conducted transparently. Electricity is a concurrent subject, managed by both the central and state governments. Yet each state has its own policies. Despite this complex structure, conflicts are minimal because the rules are clear and accessible—any company can apply, and the process is fair.
 In India, projects are awarded based on a competitive bidding process, ensuring transparency and fairness. Sri Lanka could adopt a similar approach if it chooses to. While the decision ultimately rests with the Sri Lankan government, it can certainly learn from India’s experience with private sector participation in the energy sector.
Q. Has this decision by the government eroded the confidence of Indian investors?

I am asking this question because even a big company like Adani was unable to secure these projects.
It is a new government. They have taken the decisions. I can’t make a comment whether it was the right decision or a wrong decision.
 What I feel is that instead of looking backwards, we have to see how we can move forward and strengthen the relationship, and what type of transparent rules can help in taking it forward.
 The substantive part is that if Sri Lanka is not utilising its resources for its own economic benefit—bar geopolitics—then you are losing your opportunity. Cross-border electricity trade can provide a huge economic benefit to Sri Lanka. That can help India make some of its clean energy work. It is to both countries’ advantage that it should happen.
Q. Your organisation conducts extensive research on climate change. Considering the growing focus on wind and solar power, and the global challenges posed by climate change, how reliable are these sources of energy—both in India and in the wider context?
There are pros and cons to all technologies. You have coal. It has some advantages. It has many disadvantages. Similarly, for wind and solar also, there are advantages. The advantage is that when you are producing electricity from either solar or wind, it is clean.
In the case of coal, it is also creating local pollution. Air quality is deteriorating because of the emission of particulate matter. Wind and solar power are clean energy sources, both in terms of reducing global carbon emissions and lowering local particulate pollution.
The equipment that you use to convert solar radiation into electricity and wind into electricity needs to be manufactured using different materials. You have to mine those materials. We have to do sustainable mining. You need battery storage. One has to do mining in a sustainable fashion so that they are not creating any problems. From that point of view, I think these are all the advantages. There are certain disadvantages, of course. For example, some people say that in case of wind turbines it creates some noise pollution. You get heat. But I would say it happens once in a while.
 These are not big issues. These issues can be addressed. If I plan my projects in a proper way, I can avoid all these problems. Some people who are naysayers raise these problems. In India, we have 100 gigawatt; Sri Lanka has 5,000 megawatt. That is five gigawatts of electrical power. We have only solar power of more than 100 gigawatts. You can just imagine the scale. We have not faced all these problems.
 We have around 50 gigawatts of wind. We have not faced these problems. Whatever small problems you face, our life is not a bed of roses. There might be some thorns also. You have to take care of that.
Q. How do you see the future of hydropower in the context of climate change?
Hydropower is undoubtedly a clean source of energy, but there are two main types. One is storage-based, where a dam is built to store water and generate electricity. The other is run-of-the-river, which produces electricity without creating a dam. Countries like Bhutan and Nepal, located in the Himalayan region, primarily use the run-of-the-river system. However, climate change is affecting glacier melt in these regions, which can impact the availability and reliability of hydropower. That might impact the production of hydropower in those countries.
Q. How do you see the impact on hydropower in Sri Lanka?
Your hydropower is mostly from the hills. The river is starting, and you are having this hydropower project. It’s a high-precipitation region. Your rainfall is very high. I don’t see big changes happening because of climate change.
 I don’t see the type of impact that we are anticipating in the case of the Himalayan countries is going to happen in Sri Lanka. What will happen is that maybe the duration of rainfall might change. The pattern of rainfall might change.
 You have to take those into account while planning for your hydropower project. Another thing that is not happening in Sri Lanka is the pumped storage system. Pumped storage is very important in the context of using solar and wind.
 Solar is during the daytime. For this pump storage system, what happens is that you pump the water to the top when your electricity cost is low. For example, in the afternoon when solar is very high, the radiation is very high. Your cost of generation is very low.
 Use that energy to pump water to the upper reservoir. Then you run the turbine to meet your demand for 4-5 hours. Pump storage coupled with solar power is a very good system to provide you with clean energy for extended hours of time, which solar alone cannot give you. This is something that Sri Lanka might like to explore. First, we have to assess the potential for pump storage and then accordingly plan for it.
Q. You said that Sri Lanka should develop these transparent guidelines. When Sri Lanka opens energy projects to public bidding and private sector participation, companies from geopolitical rivals—such as India and China—are likely to compete. Given the sensitivities in Sri Lanka’s relations with both countries, how can the government frame transparent guidelines without creating tension with either side?
Let’s assume an open tender for not an energy (20:20) but something—a different product—where it doesn’t matter whether you are getting that product from India or any other country.
 Who is going to buy your electricity? You have to have a demand. You cannot consume everything in Sri Lanka. Your demand is very low, but your potential is very high.
 If you are generating electricity, somebody has to buy it. If your demand is in India, then you have to work out an arrangement with India that they get a project.
 How do you sell that electricity to that country? I am giving a very practical reason. Let’s take the case of India doing business with Bhutan! The Indian government is supporting the development of the hydro sector in Bhutan in anticipation that Bhutan is going to sell the electricity to India at a competitive rate.
 The same is the case with Sri Lanka. If your demand is in both import and export, you can discover the price. You can make an arrangement because I can only sell to a particular country. That doesn’t mean that I will sell because I can negotiate and arrive at a particular price for electricity. Then open up the sector for investment by the private sector!
 I have to frame the rules. I have to create a mechanism where the country would like to sell that electricity. Then, you organise your competition, whether it is Sri Lankan companies or private sector or joint ventures with Indian companies.
 Whatever is best for the country, the country can decide. Ultimately, you have to sell that electricity to India. Then you have to make a rule in a way that you can sell it to India.
 Once you have decided on this, then you open it up for competition. Why do you need another country? There are hundreds of private sector companies in India that would be very happy to come and develop collaboration with Sri Lankan companies and participate in the bidding process.
 They have to strike an arrangement with India. That is for the country to decide. I am just giving an example, especially for the electricity sector.