The objective of the Power and Energy Ministry is to supply electricity to the people without burdening them. This endeavor has caused continuous financial losses to the Ceylon Electricity Board(CEB). Our aim is to eliminate such losses by utilizing existing sources to produce electricity at a cheap rate, Power, Energy and Business Development Minister Ravi Karunanayake said.
The Minister expressed these sentiments at a meeting attended by representatives of the Small-scale Solar Energy Industrialists and Suppliers’ Association and officials of the Sustainable Energy Authority at the Ministry premises recently.Minister Karunanayake said attempts would be made to resolve problems confronted by solar energy industrialists after identifying them with the help of the Small-scale Solar Energy Industrialists and Suppliers’ Association. Emergency power purchases had been a perennial problem for the last few years. When steps were taken to make emergency purchases, some alleged that it involved an underhand business deal.
It was to overcome this situation that attempts were made to promote solar energy production by giving a helping hand. Through solar energy production, the Ministry aimed to provide overall economic benefits to the producer, consumer as well as the CEB.Minister Karunanayake said electricity generation had not received any worthwhile boost during the last three years. Only the energy which was produced by rooftop panels had been added to the national grid during this period. As such, the Ministry would pay attention to this matter and introduce a new policy regarding the electricity sector to the government by March 1.
The problems encountered by small-scale solar power industrialists and suppliers including land acquisition, storage of electricity, delays in granting approvals and problems relating to the obtaining of loans were discussed at length during the meeting.The Minister directed the representatives to provide a detailed report relating to those problems and issues within a fortnight so that he could take steps to redress them.
