Power and Energy Ministry promises over 300 renewable energy projects

By Ifham Nizam

Plans were underway to implement 330 renewable energy projects within four years -2023 to 2026 to generate 2,300MW, a senior Power and Energy Ministry official said.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday had a discussion with the top brass of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA). He asked them to expedite projects that could be approved by government agencies and to cancel temporary licences for projects that were not feasible.

Wijesekera also asked the officials to speed up the process of getting approval from other government agencies for the renewable energy projects and to extend the licences that had already been issued.

However, renewable energy experts told The Island that such initiatives were not possible with the present structure. It is understood that matter would be taken up with the Minister shortly.

CEB General Manager Eng. Rohan Seneviratne recently told The Island that during the last six months 214MW of renewable energy had been added to the grid. He also said that they were keen to generate 20% of electricity with renewable energy.