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Lanka can’t afford fossil fuels but can’t afford to get off them either
(climatechangenews)
Sri Lanka is in turmoil, with fuel and food shortages provoking citizens to storm the presidential palace and send Gotobaya Rajapaksa packing.Reliance on fossil fuel imports is a big factor in the economic crisis. Fuel prices spiking while tourism stayed in the doldrums led to the country running out of foreign currency, not helped by chronic fiscal mismanagement.
That same economic crisis is now making it harder than ever for Sri Lanka to develop a renewable industry, energy experts and business owners say.On 31 March, protesters marched on president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence. Things escalated until on 9 July, they stormed the presidential palace, prompting Rajapaksa to resign and flee to Singapore. He appointed an ally, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as his successor and this week a Sri Lankan official said Rajapaksa himself would return to the country, dampening hopes of substantive political change.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis stems from consistently importing more than it exports. As the country pays in foreign currency (largely US dollars) for imports and sells in foreign currency for exports, its central bank’s foreign currency reserves have been depleting.The government didn’t have enough Sri Lankan rupees to pay for imports so prices of products, including essentials like food and fuel, shot up.
Between 1990 and 2000, Sri Lanka’s net energy imports as a percentage of total energy use doubled from 20% to 40% and has stayed around the same ever since. In 2021, the country spent $3.7bn on imports of oil and coal. Sri Lanka has no significant fossil fuel reserves. It does, according to the World Bank, have good potential for solar and wind power. Yet it has failed to develop either technology. It gets around a third of its electricity from imported oil, a third from imported coal and a third from domestic hydropower.
Lankan journalist Rathindra Kuruwita said this failure to develop renewables was largely the fault of the island’s state-owned monopoly utility provider, the Ceylon Electricity Board.
“Most of the engineers are in cahoots with the power plant mafia,” he said. This “mafia” is not an organised crime mob, but a network of people with a vested interest in fossil fuels: power plant operators, diesel distributors and coal importers.
The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority has also been slow in approving licenses for renewable projects, he said. If those projects had been approved, Kuruwita added, “we wouldn’t be in this mess”.
When an electrical engineer named Champika Ranawaka became energy minister in 2015, he tried to reform the CEB, Kuruwita said. He lasted eight months in the role.Now the country has run out of foreign currency to import the amount of fossil fuels its infrastructure needs. There are shortages of electricity, of cooking gas and of fuel for vehicles and for the diesel generators used as back-up power.
Before terrorist attacks in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic, tourism provided 6% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. There were hopes it would rebound this year and bring in much needed foreign currency.But Nimesh, who works in the Atha resort in central Sri Lanka, told Climate Home that tourists are finding it hard to find vehicles to transport them as drivers are having to queue for days to get fuel.On top of that, small hotels and restaurants are suffering from power cuts. Larger hotels have generators but are finding it difficult to find fuel for them.
“These power cuts and fuel shortages are really affecting the tourism industry,” he said.
Lien Wysmans runs a backpackers’ hostel on Arugam Bay beach in the island’s east. She told Climate Home: “There are power cuts as well of about four or five hours a day… I’m freaking out”.
Although Wysmans says her guests don’t mind the power cuts, others are less tolerant. A March 2022 review for a beachfront Airbnb gives one star, citing “power cut- not their fault but created problem for us” among the reasons.A Financial Times reporter who visited the country recently said: “Anyone considering a trip to Sri Lanka this year or next also faces a difficult choice. Avoid the country entirely and the risk of a severely impacted and unexpectedly expensive trip, or support a vulnerable economy unduly impacted by the pandemic and poor management.”
Electric vehicles (with enough electricity) and rooftop solar panels would solve many of the tourist industry’s problems. But rolling them out requires money which most Sri Lankan citizens and their government don’t have.
Wysmans said solar panels “would be definitely a very good solution”. She can’t install them as she is renting the property but, even if she owned it, she said that the return on investment is 25 years. “It’s economically not beneficial for anybody because it’s just too expensive,” she said. “Also, the government is not really supporting.”
Nimesh said: “Solar panels are a great solution but the problem is government can’t afford to give financial support to invest in these projects due to the critical financial crisis that our country is facing”.
There are international schemes to help, like a Asian Development Bank funded scheme to provide low-interest loans for rooftop solar power. But these are on a small scale.
Speaking from her native Belgium, Wysmans said: “Sri Lanka has a really great opportunity for being a self-sustainable renewable energy island but the corruption is stopping all of it.”
“They’ve got the sun, they’ve got the water, they’ve got the wind, they just need to do it,” she added, “but if you have a corrupt government who wants to bring oil in where they can put half the money in their own pocket, it’s never going to happen.”
The Sustainable Energy Authority did not reply to a request for comment.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Government stands ready to support the University of Peradeniya in rebuilding stronger, safer, and more resilient than before. She made these remarks while visiting the University of Peradeniya on Sunday (07), where she met with student representatives and Heads of Departments affected by the sudden floods that swept through the campus on 27 November.
The visit aimed to personally inspect the damage, which caused extensive harm to academic buildings, student facilities, and key infrastructure. University officials briefed the Prime Minister on the severity of the impact, highlighting significant losses to the Faculties of Management, Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the IT Centre, CDCE, gymnasium, swimming pool, and playgrounds.
The Prime Minister was also briefed on how the disaster disrupted both academic activities and the wellbeing of students and staff, including the loss of more than 110 computers, vital laboratory equipment, examination documents, and four central IT servers, with preliminary damage estimates exceeding Rs. 6 billion. She commended the swift evacuation of nearly 750 students from hostels located along the Mahaweli River and acknowledged the resilience shown by nearly 11,000 students who remained on campus during the crisis.
She expressed her appreciation to the Sri Lanka Army, the Disaster Management Centre, and local donors for providing food, water, and essential supplies at a time when access and communication were severely disrupted.
A joint engineering team has confirmed that university buildings remain structurally stable, although several require urgent repairs. With academic activities suspended until 15 December.
The Prime Minister discussed with the Vice Chancellor and emergency response teams the immediate steps required to restore normalcy and provide necessary support to students whose studies and daily routines have been significantly affected.
During these discussions, the Prime Minister issued a series of directives focusing on both immediate relief and long-term safety. These include restoring essential services such as water, electricity, and safe access pathways for students; accelerating the rehabilitation of heavily damaged faculties and laboratories; strengthening early warning systems for flood-prone areas; and implementing long-term mitigation measures such as riverbank protection, improved drainage, and the relocation of vulnerable facilities. She also directed the relevant agencies to fast-track government assistance, assuring the university community that the Government stands ready to help Peradeniya rebuild stronger, safer, and more resilient than before.
The meeting was attended by Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education; Kandy District Parliamentarian Thanura Dissanayake, Professor Terrence Madhujith, Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya; and Professor R. W. Pallegama, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, along with Heads of Departments, officials, and student representatives of the University of Peradeniya.
[Prime minister’s media division]
Latest News
Level III landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale extended till 1600 hrs on Tuesday [09]
The Level III RED landslide warnings issued to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale by the landslide early warning center of the National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] have been extended till 1600 hrs on 09th December 2025.
Accordingly,
The LEVEL III RED warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Hatharaliyadda, Yatinuwara, Ududumbara, Pathahewaheta, Medadumbara, Pasbage Korale, Deltota, Poojapitiya, Ganga Ihala Korale, Panvila, Gangawata Korale, Udapalatha, Harispattuwa, Kundasale, Minipe, Doluwa, Thumpane, Akurana, Udunuwara and Pathadumbara in the Kandy district, Kegalle, Galigamuwa, Mawanella, Bulathkohupitiya, Aranayaka, Yatiyanthota, Rambukkana and Warakapola in the Kegalle district, Mawathagama, Mallawapitiya and Rideegama in the Kurunegala district, and Naula, Wilgamuwa, Pallepola, Ambanganga Korale, Laggala Pallegama, Ukuwela, Rattota, Matale and Yatawatta in the Matale district have been extended.
In the meantime,
LEVEL II AMBER warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Uva Paranagama, Meegahakivula, Badulla, Kandeketiya, Bandarawela, Soranathota, Hali_Ela, Ella, Lunugala, Welimada, Haputhale, Passara and Haldummulla in the Badulla district, Dehiowita, Ruwanwella and Deraniyagala in the Kegalle district, Alawwa and Polgahawela in the Kurunegala district, Ambagamuwa Korale, Hanguranketha, Mathurata, Norwood, Kothmale West, Nuwara Eliya, Thalawakele, Nildandahinna, Walapane and Kothmale East in the Nuwara Eliya district, and Kahawatta, Godakawela and Kolonne in the Ratnapura district.
LEVEL I YELLOW warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Yakkalamulla and Elpitiya in the Galle district, Attanagalla, Mirigama and Divulapitiya in the Gampaha district, Narammala in the Kurunegala district, and Eheliyagoda, Opanayake, Kalawana, Imbulpe, Kaltota, Kiriella, Kuruwita, Nivithigala, Ayagama, Pelmadulla, Balangoda, Elapatha and Ratnapura in the Ratnapura district
A special District Coordinating Committee meeting, convened to review the damage caused to the agricultural sector in the Nuwara Eliya District due to Cyclone Ditwah and to discuss the urgent measures required, was held this morning (08) at the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with the participation of the relevant responsible officials.
Due to adverse weather conditions, 1,421 hectares of vegetable cultivation in the Nuwara Eliya District has been damaged. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake instructed the relevant officials to take the necessary measures to provide compensation to farmers without delay.
Officials stated that although there has been crop damage, the reduction in the vegetable harvest in the Nuwara Eliya District would be around 25%. They added that Nuwara Eliya district would be able to meet the daily demand, but a decrease in the daily demand has been observed.
Officials further pointed out to the President that the reason for this decline is the spread of false information claiming a vegetable shortage in the Nuwara Eliya District and that prices have excessively increased.
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