{"id":88302,"date":"2019-05-06T23:45:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T05:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88302"},"modified":"2019-05-06T16:15:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T23:15:41","slug":"clean-practical-solutions-to-sri-lankas-energy-crisis-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/06\/clean-practical-solutions-to-sri-lankas-energy-crisis-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean, practical solutions to Sri Lanka’s energy crisis – I."},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0 Chandre Dharmawardana, Canada<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Newspaper  reports mention how Mr. Ravi Karunanayake,\nthe minister of Power and Energy had taken the initiative of contacting French\nand Canadian agencies regarding Sri Lanka’s \ngrave energy crisis. The Minister has even explored  awarding a Turkish company a tender to\nprovide electricity from two power-ships. A sense  of desperation is clear from  reports that the Ceylon Electricity Board\n(CEB) officials offered alms to the Sri Maha Bodhi\u201d and begged the gods  to fill the hydro-electricity reservoirs! Some\nrain has come, and the Easter bombings have intervened.  Ant yet, the power crisis continues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEB should\nhave turned to the Sun God and solar energy sooner, but even now it is spurned\nin the belief that solar cannot provide firm power\u201d (continuous power). CEB\nplanners have also ignored energy generation from the vast biomass  available in Sri Lanka, considering  it to be \nsmall potatoes.  Given these\nASUMPTIONS, the CEB  planners concluded\ncorrectly that a combination of hydro-power and large installations of\ncoal-power is the optimal answer to Sri Lanka’s energy needs. Such large-scale\napproaches to power needs long-range planning and a FIRM commitment to the\nplans till completion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While coal power\nis one of the most polluting types of energy, Sri Lanka is already ringed in\nthe north by dozens of Tamil-Nadu coal plants. Sri Lanka’s largest contribution\nto  noxious fumes comes from burning over\n60,000 barrels of diesel,  motor and\nother fossil fuels a day. Even so, Sri Lanka’s per capita emissions are a tenth\nof most western countries,   and well\nmanged coal-power plants can be run with a much reduced threat to the\nenvironment.  So, contrary to the claims\nof the so-called environmental lobby\u201d, \nthe pollution from the proposed coal plants is arguably irrelevant to\nthe total picture as cleaner  and\nAFFORDABLE alternatives were unavailable. \nThis was the basis of the CEB long-ranged plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Rajapaksa\ngovernment adhered  to the CEB plans and\ndelivered continuous power from 2005 to 2014, electrified the whole country,\nand brought down tariffs by 25% when the Lakvijaya coal-power plant opened in\nNorochcholai \u2013 a name derived from Horagolla\u201d, ironically evoking a salubrious\nclump of Hora\u201d trees! Unfortunately, Lakvijaya bears stark testimony to the\nCEB’s incapacity to  meet even minimal\nenvironmental standards and in endangering the health of the local people.\nHence the cancellation  of the proposed  coal powered plant in Sampura (located in\nthe  ancient Somapura\u201d historic area,\nsee https:\/\/dh-web.org\/place.names\/) \nbefore it became another horror story \nis  fortunate for Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the following\nwe point out that fossil power is NOT NEEDED and that there are inexpensive\nnon-polluting  options that can be\nimplemented RAPIDLY, unlike commissioning thermal or hydro-electric\ninstallations. Sri Lanka spent some $5 billion per year a few years ago, and\nstill spends nearly $3 billion per year at current lower oil prices. However,\nthe country can be largely FREE of such a burden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we show how\nsolar energy can give firm power WITHOUT batteries or alternators. We show how\nwhole agricultural sectors that are now ailing can be re-booted\ninexpensively  to become vibrant\nbio-energy sectors, while vitalizing them. The potential is vast enough to meet\nSri Lanka’s needs for decades to come, and even to sell to the Indian continent\nusing a cable link, breaking the isolation of Sri Lanka’s power grid.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FLOATING SOLAR\nARRAYS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009,  just after the end of the Eelam  war, \nProf. Epasinghe (a Presidential adviser) \nand I met the then president, Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa,  and discussed this very question of  future power needs. I was given the\nopportunity to address some officials of the Presidential secretariat and show\na film on solar energy. One of my proposals was \nthe possibility of using floating solar arrays positioned in reservoirs,\nwith the power generated STORED AS WATER \nin the reservoir itself  instead\nof in batteries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Power  is stored \nby pumping the water back into reservoir, or just saving the equivalent\namount of water that otherwise flows into a turbine if the reservoir is\nequipped with generators. The resulting power is rendered when needed by the\nturbines as firm alternating current. Those were new ideas at the time.\nThe  talk can be  accessed even today  at: (https:\/dh-web.org\/place.names\/posts\/dev-tech.ppt).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, solar\npanels were quite expensive in  2009, but\nour projections showed solar panels to become competitive soon. When the\nRajapaksa government raised the price of electric power on May day in 2013,\nI  hailed it as a great step forward in\nmaking an equitable playing field for solar (see my article in Island, May 7th<\/sup>\n2013). Other proposals suitable for Sri Lanka \nthat I made  included energy from\nbiomass, and a call for electric trains instead of motor ways. Unfortunately,\nsuggestions by scientists  are rarely\naccepted by politicians, unlike suggestions from deep-pocketed\nbusinessmen,  or astrologers,  or psychics who hear the voice of God\nNatha\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was happy\nthat a 100 MW floating solar array will be launched on the Maduru Oya\nreservoir, a decade after my suggestion. However, the proposal is still\ntechnically less satisfactory than my proposal which needed no batteries to\nstore the electricity and  no\nalternators.  If, say  200-250 hectare of the  Randenigala reservoir were covered by solar\npanels, some 200 MW may be produced per hour when the sun shines. The\nproduced  solar power can be fed into the\ngrid and, assuming a head of 100 meters, some 800 cubic meters per hour can be\nsaved IN THE  RESERVOIR, for use after\nsunset.   No batteries are needed! The\ncost, even inclusive of the floater  is\nincredibly low since the installation \namortizes over a life of about 20 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The saving is much\nmore, as emphasized in my talk in 2009. Some 35% of the water  in a reservoir is lost by evaporation in a\ntropical climate. If 25% of the reservoir is covered, the solar panels shield\nthe water from the sun’s heat during the day and from the wind, both day and\nnight.  Assuming 400GWh of annual power\ngeneration at Randenigala, a potential 120GWh is lost\u201d  to evaporation. The  mere presence of the solar panels saves 30\nGWh of power! Applying that to all the suitable reservoirs, the floating arrays\nsave some 300GWh per year -equal to one Laxsapana – by just being there! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of\nsolar panels discourages the growth of algae in the water. The environmental\nadvantages compensate the disadvantages as long as we do not exceed 25%\ncoverage. The panels should be \ndistributed in an environmentally optimal manner. While floating panels\nare more expensive  than fixed  land panels, it avoids tricky negotiations\nfor renting roofs of consumers. No clearance of land is needed for floating\narrays. However, given some six million homes in Sri Lanka, most without\nroof-top solar panels, the claim that solar energy is not a viable option for\nSri Lanka is false. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Solar\nenergy is not the only option available to Sri Lanka. In a continuation of this\narticle, we address the potential for biomass and also show how it can be used\nto re-vitalize seceral ailing agricultural sectors like coconut and rubber. (to\nbe continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONCLUSION.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We have shown that solar power, the least\npolluting form of energy after hydro-power has high  potential in Sri Lanka for FIRM electric\npower and meet the expected power shortage. \nHowever, Solar energy is not the only option available to Sri Lanka. In\na continuation of this article, we address the enormous potential for biomass\nenergy, and also show how it can be used to re-vitalize  ailing agricultural sectors like coconut,\nrubber etc. (to be continued.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[The Author was a\npast-Professor of Chemistry and a Vice-Chancellor of the SJP University in the\n1970s. He is currently a Professor of Physics in Canada.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0 Chandre Dharmawardana, Canada Newspaper  reports mention how Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, the minister of Power and Energy had taken the initiative of contacting French and Canadian agencies regarding Sri Lanka’s  grave energy crisis. The Minister has even explored  awarding a Turkish company a tender to provide electricity from two power-ships. A sense  of desperation is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chandre-dharmawardana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}