The renewable energy sector announced its full support for the pledge made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, at COPE 27 held on November 8, 2022, to secure the power and energy security of the country, at a press conference held in Colombo recently.
Small Hydro Power Association Secretary, Warna Dahanayake said, “We, the renewable energy sector of this country, are firmly and steadfastly extending our support to President Ranil Wicremesinghe who at the COPE 27 of November 8, 2022, firmly pledged his commitment to increasing the renewable energy contribution to the grid to 70 percent which at the moment stands at 12 percent. Also to reduce the carbon footprint to 14.5 percent from present levels by 2030.”
“At this crucial moment of national crisis, therefore, we stand by the President who has a clear vision to lead us out of this crisis to prosperity. In order to achieve this, he said that countries that are interested in investing and being a part of this country’s progress should be brought together to make this project a success. Consequently, this pledge given by the President to the international community should also be a guide and path for our development,” Dahanayake said. “Today the danger is the country losing its capacity to produce and supply the energy and power needs. The present risk of losing 1,200MW of power supplied by the renewable energy sector to the national grid is genuine and will have certain adverse repercussions on the country. This loss to the grid will cause longer power outages and higher tariffs. The shortfall of this power will have to be met only by using costly imported fuel. This will translate into further raising of tariffs, which is already raising grave concerns among all sectors of industry and the domestic market. Therefore, this will also discourage both local and foreign investment in the future,” he said.
“It is an opportune moment that the President is of this view as the renewable energy sector has in hand projects that can immediately add 150 to 500MW to ease the present power shortage situation,” Dahanayake said.
Add new comment