| The Power Industry |
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| Background |
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The primary energy sources of Sri Lanka are hydropower, petroleum and fuel wood. In the past, the bulk of electricity demand has been met from large-scale hydropower projects, which were supplemented by thermal generation during periods of drought. While Sri Lanka has over 100 rivers and streams that are fed by 2 rainy seasons, the hydro potential main river basins are the Mahaweli and the Kelani systems.
Over the last decade, the demand for electricity in Sri Lanka grew at an average annual rate of 7%. This growth has been driven by rising demand across all consuming sectors and has followed the growth in the country's economy. |
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| Growth |
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The state power generation utility system has been supplemented by private sector participation since the mid 1990's. Investment promotion schemes and financial incentives to developers of power plants have boosted private involvement in the industry.
There is an estimated 200mW of small hydro potential remaining to be tapped, indicating the industry has potential to be a significant contributor in terms of the country's power generation capacity.
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| Why is the Small Hydro Sector Important to Sri Lanka? |
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| At present, the Sri Lankan power sector is hydro power dominated. Hence, it is necessary to harness the energy of this water resource with a high degree of accuracy. Compared to other energy resources available in the country, hydropower has several advantages over such resources. |
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| Improves Energy Mix and Self Reliance |
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Indigenous and renewable |
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Cheaper than any other thermal Independent Power Producers (IPP) |
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Distributed generation |
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Speedy commissioning |
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| Enriches Economy |
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Saves foreign exchange |
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Encourages local private investment |
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Reduces factor costs |
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Increases rural employment and income generation |
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Creates rural electrification and infrastructure development |
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Develops local technical expertise |
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| Protects Environment |
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| Why is 'Run-of-the-River' Systems more valuable? |
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| 'Run-of-the-river', grid-connected small and mini-hydro plants are environmentally friendly sources of energy available in Sri Lanka. As water is not stored in a reservoir, the water is fed back to the same stream within a very short time span after its diversion and generation of power. There is no inundation of fertile land causing dislocation of communities. It is also said that large reservoirs help increase the emission of green house gases due to rotten vegetation that gets submerged with the filling up of the reservoir. |
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