“To come back to Norochcholai, the Bishop of Chilaw spearheaded a vigorous campaign supported by the smugglers of the area and they roused the residents in and around the area to protest against the construction of the power plant in Norochcholai. They saw acres and acres of land being made sterile as a result of coal dust settling therein. It was reported that hundreds of fishermen would lose their jobs and the most important of all, the Church situated over 10 kilometers away would get washed off.”_________________________
by Neil Perera
(May 24, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) As a person who had served more than half his lifetime as an engineer at the C.E.B. and the Department of Government Electrical Undertakings, I feel saddened at the tragic situation currently prevailing in the C.E.B. and the consequent adverse impact in the Power sector. One of the reasons for the C.E.B moving along like a rudderless boat without any sense of direction is the lack of a suitably qualified person to steer the boat.
It is inconceivable, indeed a crying shame, that it is not possible to find a suitable engineer among an engineer population of over 5000, to be the Chairman of the C.E.B. The manner in which the engineering and scientific community has been treated by all governments in the recent past, spells disaster to the future of this country. Suffice it to say that this is proved in no uncertain manner by the astounding fact that only 0. 13 percent of the G.N.P. has been set aside in the budget of 2008, for Scientific Research and Development. This is in spite of having a man of science as the Minister of Science and Technology.
Coming back to the subject of this article; While not having an engineer as the chairman of the C.E.B. is bad enough, to make matters worse the chairman of the Lanka Electricity Company is also a non engineer. In the not too distant past, the post of chairman C.E.B was held by men of the highest integrity and eminence. We had the likes of M.I. Azeez, D.P. Chandrasinghe, Prof. K.K.Y.W. Perera, Arjun Deraniyagala, M. Zubair and M. Prelis, just to name a few, who adorned the post of chairman C.E.B. with great distinction. The Lanka Electricity Company ( LECO) had as its founder -chairman H.S. Subasinghe and WALWA Perera as its General Manager. These two took over local authority electricity distribution schemes which were on the verge of collapse and guided LECO to be one of the best electricity distribution companies in South East Asia. Both these esteemed gentlemen are no longer there at this Institution, and it is no wonder that the standards at this institution have also fallen apart. Some of the official statements pertaining to the power sector highlighted in the media very often show a woeful lack of understanding of the present impasse in this sector. These statements give a completely erroneous picture to the public. We hear various statements regarding the use of wind power, solar power, dendro power (using wood) bio- mass, geo-thermal etc. to mitigate the present crisis in the power sector.
It is necessary to emphasize here, that at the prevailing high costs of power generation from the above mentioned non conventional sources and other associated imponderables, none of these alternative sources of energy can fall into the macro plan of power sector development. This fact should not however prevent feasibility studies being done and pilot projects started to determine if they are economically viable under certain special circumstances. At the current rates, solar power will cost approximately Rs. 40/- per unit of electricity. However in remote areas where it will be very expensive to supply electricity through traditional sources, solar power could come into reckoning. Although dendro power appears to be much cheaper, (this could vary from Rs. 13/- to Rs 18/- per unit on current estimates), approximately 1000 acres of land will be required to grow the timber required to produce one Megawatt of power. When we consider the present installed capacity of generating plant available to the CEB, which is approximately 2300 MW, it will be apparent that several hundred thousand acres of timber cultivation will be required even for medium scale generation of dendro power. However a pilot project for generating dendro power on a small scale, could be started in order to ascertain the economics of using land for such purpose as against the use of land for agriculture, particularly in view of growing importance of food production.
Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya, one time Chief Engineer, Generation Planning of the CEB, (in my opinion one of the best to hold this post), has this to say about some of the aforesaid non conventional forms of energy, in an article published by him a few months ago:
"The medicine is proven (meaning coal power, hydro power and nuclear power) and keeps the electricity supply alive all over the world. Native physicians with all good intentions may administer solar, wind and bio-mass, but that will not treat the chronic, sickness of our electricity system fast enough, before our industry and economy die."
The present impasse in the Power sector is largely due to political interference in relation to the well laid out plans made by the CEB, in the past. This fact is best articulated again by Dr. T. S. : "Go into the archives of Cabinet Decisions since 1992, under three former Presidents and count the number of times the coal power plants have been cancelled, deferred, postponed, and shifted to other sites?
Also count the number of times the Upper Kotmale hydro, power project has been cancelled, modified, deferred and postponed."
. The Long Term Generation Expansion Plan of the CEB, (LTGEP) has been prepared and updated during a period of over 30 years. This plan presents the results of the latest generation expansion planning studies conducted by the Generation Planning Branch of the CEB. This plan which is updated every year gives a comprehensive view of the existing generating system, future electricity demand, and future power generation options in addition to expansion study results, projected over a period of 15 years. This plan also serves as the least cost generation plan, which will enable the CEB, to provide reliable power at the cheapest cost. The LTGEP prepared during the year 1999, as an example, covered a period of 15 years up to 2014. This plan envisaged the commencement of the construction of a 30OMW ofcoal power plant at Norochcholai in 1999 and its completion in 2004. A further 3 00 MW was scheduled to be completed in 2008. According to the original plan we would have had 900 MW by 2008. The Japanese government was prepared to finance the cost of this plant at that time. If these coal plants were commissioned as scheduled, at least 30% of power supplied by the, CEB would have cost less than 1/3 of the present cost of generation by diesel plant. It would hot have been necessary to raise the price of electricity, had 60OMw coal plant been available today. In fact it would have been possible to provide electricity cheaper than the rates that prevailed before the price hike.
The tremendous favourable impact, the lower price of electricity would have had on the country's economy would best be commented upon by economists, but I am sure that the estimated growth rate of 7% projected for next year could have been exceeded. As indicated by Dr T. S, the coal plant in the south was planned by the CEB way back in 1992 and the first plant would have been completed, may be in 1998. The coal plant in the East, to be located in Trincomalee, was planned over 30 years ago.
Here it was the environmentalists who saw acid rain falling on the tea estates, coal dust sweeping across the land causing health hazards, the fish in and around Trincomalee dying and causing untold hardships to the lives of the fishermen. etc. And would you believe it, the gullible politicians believed all this and put a stop to the progress of this project.
To come back to Norochcholai, the Bishop of Chilaw spearheaded a vigorous campaign supported by the smugglers of the area and they roused the residents in and around the area to protest against the construction of the power plant in Norochcholai. They saw acres and acres of land being made sterile as a result of coal dust settling therein. It was reported that hundreds of fishermen would lose their jobs and the most important of all, the Church situated over 10 kilometers away would get washed off.
Having failed to convince the protesters that their fears were unjustified, the CEB even arranged for a delegation of the protesters to visit a large coal plant in Malaysia, so that they could see for themselves that all the propaganda against the coal plant was false. However, having come back home after a joy ride, many of them remained non committal. When feasibility studies were done in 1997, there were 42 occupiers within land required for the power station, many of them squatters who were living in thatched huts. They were promised asbestos roofed houses with water service, electricity and land to cultivate. All these people readily accepted the terms but they were forced by other interested parties not to agree. The 42 occupiers of land have now increased to 75 1 am told.
Listen to Dr T. S. again; " The proposed price increase from Rs 10.50 to Rs 15.50 provides only Rs 43 billion of additional income to the CEB, whereas if we had the 3 generators at Norochcholai today, as it was planned in 1997 (cancelled by the then President, cancelled again by the Prime Minister in 2002), we would have saved Rs 50 billion. There would be no need to increase electricity prices. In fact the prices would be lower by 10%., if both Norochcholai and Upper Kotmale were allowed to be built on time. Allowed by whom? You know the answer. Oh! We should not forget the Bishop of Chilaw, the CWC, Environmental Foundation. Limited etc., who have all lavishly contributed their time and sweat to raise your electricity costs by bringing immense pressure on politicians not to build these power plants. The Bishop of Chilaw wrote on 23rd December 2001, "The United National Party has recently come to power with the blessings of the voters in the Western and North Western Coastal Belt would surely not indulge in a breach of faith by reviving this project" .
Whatever mistakes the present government has made with regard to the appointments to the most important positions in the CEB and LECO, it must be congratulated on its decision to go ahead with the construction of the coal power plant in Norochcholai and the Upper Kotmale Hydro plant, although it is more than 15 years behind schedule. If these power plants were constructed as originally planned by the Planning Engineers of the CEB, the cost of these works would have been less than 30% of the present costs. Unfortunately, the politicians who were responsible for these past blunders have all prospered, but the present and future generations of ordinary people of this country will surely continue to suffer for the wrong decisions made by these people.
The present impasse in the CEB, is only one example of the absence of a strong input into the national planning process by the engineering and scientific community. We are over 25 years too late in trying to build flyovers on our main highways. Engineers of the calibre of Dr A.N. S. Kulasinghe had envisaged building of several flyovers many years ago, but he was not allowed to do so. Railway electrification within a radius of about 20 miles around Colombo was first mooted about 50 years ago, by engineer M. Muthubalasuriyar, who later became General Manager of the CEB. But even at that time, the diesel lobby was active and his proposal was thrown out of contention. The present travails and tribulations of the commuters would have reduced to a great extent, had this been done.
Over 30 years ago our Research Institutes, the C.I.S.I.R, T.R.I., C.R.I., M.R.I., and Paddy Research Institutes were considered among the best in South East Asia. This may have been one of the reasons which prompted Lee Kuan to indicate that he wanted to develop Singapore to be like Sri Lanka. See the present state of our universities and research institutes? We have lost all our chances in the past. I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.
(The writer former Vice Chairman to the Ceylon Electricity Board)
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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