If you own a building and the electricity goes out, you turn on a generator. These usually run on liquid fuel, petrol or diesel. Needless to say, this is very expensive. Sadly, our national electricity policy is much the same. When we run out of hydropower, we burn diesel to generate more. In August, this meant that the CEB lost 167 million rupees per day.
This infographic shows the composition of Sri Lanka’s energy supply. We get about half of our power from hydro (dams, etc) and half from thermal (burning fuel). A negligible amount comes from solar or wind. Few countries run on generator power this much (Saudi Arabia being an obvious exception), and the unpredictability of the rains makes matters worse.
The world in general relies primarily on coal or natural gas. Also nuclear. While the former are still fossil fuels, they are much more efficient than burning oil, especially at the rates Sri Lanka gets. Successive governments, however, have failed to complete a coal power plant, with Mahinda finally getting it done this year. Sorta.
Improve supply
The Norochcholai power plant was opened in March and handed over from the Chinese in August, but has yet to add power to the grid. It’s open like the Hambantota Port is open, which is to say, not open. Lately it’s been in the news for periodically catching fire. The 300 MW this plant adds should improve Sri Lanka’s electricity supply by about 10% in the near future, rising to 900MW eventually.
Any other bright ideas? In pure imagination, it would be nice if Sri Lanka could run on hydro and, say, solar. We certainly have a lot of sun, a lot of tides (which can also generate power), and a fair amount of rain. For something way out there, Arthur C. Clarke once imagined that an equatorial country could support a space elevator, essentially a long carbon nanotube string dangling off the earth and held tight by a counterweight. Perhaps we could deploy solar panels out there and pipe the electricity back to earth. That would be cool.
Nuclear power
Returning to earth, once could more feasibly to take advantage of the Hambantota Port to create a massive oil refinery, adding value to the petroleum we import and exporting a fair amount. Another idea would be to build a nuclear power plant in the North and export power through an undersea cable to India. In both cases, economies of scale only emerge if we begin adding value to energy products and exporting them rather than just importing and consuming.
For now, however, we’re just waiting on the rain, and turning on the national generator when it doesn’t.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/10/30/newsfe6.htm
This infographic shows the composition of Sri Lanka’s energy supply. We get about half of our power from hydro (dams, etc) and half from thermal (burning fuel). A negligible amount comes from solar or wind. Few countries run on generator power this much (Saudi Arabia being an obvious exception), and the unpredictability of the rains makes matters worse.
The world in general relies primarily on coal or natural gas. Also nuclear. While the former are still fossil fuels, they are much more efficient than burning oil, especially at the rates Sri Lanka gets. Successive governments, however, have failed to complete a coal power plant, with Mahinda finally getting it done this year. Sorta.
Improve supply
The Norochcholai power plant was opened in March and handed over from the Chinese in August, but has yet to add power to the grid. It’s open like the Hambantota Port is open, which is to say, not open. Lately it’s been in the news for periodically catching fire. The 300 MW this plant adds should improve Sri Lanka’s electricity supply by about 10% in the near future, rising to 900MW eventually.
Any other bright ideas? In pure imagination, it would be nice if Sri Lanka could run on hydro and, say, solar. We certainly have a lot of sun, a lot of tides (which can also generate power), and a fair amount of rain. For something way out there, Arthur C. Clarke once imagined that an equatorial country could support a space elevator, essentially a long carbon nanotube string dangling off the earth and held tight by a counterweight. Perhaps we could deploy solar panels out there and pipe the electricity back to earth. That would be cool.
Nuclear power
Returning to earth, once could more feasibly to take advantage of the Hambantota Port to create a massive oil refinery, adding value to the petroleum we import and exporting a fair amount. Another idea would be to build a nuclear power plant in the North and export power through an undersea cable to India. In both cases, economies of scale only emerge if we begin adding value to energy products and exporting them rather than just importing and consuming.
For now, however, we’re just waiting on the rain, and turning on the national generator when it doesn’t.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/10/30/newsfe6.htm
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