Additional power requirements, absence of low cost power plants prevent CEB from reducing tariffs

Colombo, Dec 08 (Daily Mirror)- In response to a query regarding the inability to reduce electricity tariffs for another six months, a top official said the additional requirement of one billion units of electricity next year and the absence of construction of low cost power plants for generation during the last five years triggered it.

Director General - Power Sector Reforms Secretariat, Pubudu Niroshan said that as a result, next year the additional units will be mainly from high cost sources.

"The estimated electricity requirement in 2025 is 17.5 billion units. Hydro and coal capacities have reached their maximum due to obvious reasons (12 billion units) and the balance has to be sourced through a mix of renewable energy and fuel oil. Considering the available and ongoing renewable energy development, approximately three billion units are to be sourced from fuel oil. Two-thirds of the electricity bill is the generation costs," he said.

He said the solution is to start and speed up competitive renewable energy additions - wind and solar and then LNG as a transition fuel.

Asked about this year's profit of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), he said Rs. 112 billion had been used by August 31 for payables as loans.

"Only Rs. 41 billion is left as the revenue difference in 2024. It is being passed on to the consumers through this tariff revision," he said.