In parallel to the solar park, another transmission line project will also be implemented, he added. Cabinet approval was granted to construct the solar park in 2016, and it has been delayed since. Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) is currently evaluating the technical possibilities as to whether the tenders should be called for 100 MW at once, four 25 MW plants, or ten 10 MW plants, Dissanayake added. Grid capacity Meanwhile, speaking to The Sunday Morning, SIA Secretary Lakmal Fernando stressed that the energy requirement of the country is growing by 5-6% per year, and therefore it is important to increase grid capacity and also various other capacities like transmission lines as well. “It’s a question of whether you will take renewable energy, diesel power, coal power, or whatever; you have to expand the grid capacity according to the future requirement of the country. This year, our energy requirement went down drastically due to Covid-19. As a result, there won’t be an energy requirement growth in this year. But next year, it won’t be the same. When the country’s economy is growing, the energy requirement also grows,” Fernando stressed. The CEB at present is making efforts to expand the existing grid capacity to allocate more space for renewable energy, according to the Ministry of Power. At the end of last month, Power Ministry Director – Development Sulakshana Jayawardena told The Sunday Morning that the capacity can be expanded by installing more transformers and at present, the CEB is exploring the possibilities for an augmentation. “Renewable energy is a variable energy source, and to maintain the stability, reliability, quality, and supply of the system, there are certain technical requirements. You can’t add more and more renewable energy to the grid substation if there is no capacity. When it comes to the grid substations, there are transformers, and these transformers have technical capacities,” he explained. “We have already augmented a dedicated grid substation only for the absorption of renewable energy, and there are other ongoing measures to enhance the grid capacity,” he said, pointing out that there was other infrastructure that needed to be upgraded, such as the transmission lines and accessories in parallel to upgrading the existing system. “The Government is targeting to get more renewable to the system. The grid expansions should be done in order to provide facilities for more renewable energy to be added to the national grid,” he added. According to statistics, by the end of 2018, the Sri Lankan power system had a total installed capacity of approximately 4,048 MW with a total dispatchable capacity of 3,464 MW. The maximum demand recorded in 2018 was 2,616 MW and total net generation was 15,305 GWh. Competitive bidding Nevertheless, the CEB is planning to purchase 150 MW of solar power at cheaper rates to add to the national grid, thereby saving around Rs. 200 million per year. In addition, it has already taken measures to implement some long-delayed renewable energy projects including mini-hydro, solar, and wind. Speaking to The Sunday Morning in July about the initial steps to be taken to kick-start said projects, CEB Chairman Eng. Vijitha Herath said competitive bidding would only be applied to industrial solar power plants with a power generation capacity of more than 1 MW. “Competitive bidding is not applicable for rooftop solar power plants and therefore there won’t be a tariff change to those,” he stressed. He stressed that the unit prices of solar power had drastically reduced over the years and competitive bidding would help the CEB purchase solar at the market rate. “The price of a unit of solar power at present with competitive bidding is between Rs. 12-15, but currently, the CEB is paying Rs. 22 per unit, which is more expensive than the market price,” he said, adding that the price reduction wasn’t something the CEB had a hand in, but rather a result of a natural process which occurred over the years. Under the new system, the CEB would go for competitive bidding every six months and as a result, the Board expects to purchase solar power at the more recent, cheaper rate. Explaining the situation at the time, the CEB Chairman stressed that the Board was incurring a loss of around Rs. 10 per solar power unit. “The unit price at present (July) is around Rs. 22 and even if we reduce Rs. 4 as a production cost, the CEB would still incur a loss of around Rs. 10 per unit.” Herath said there were several issues regarding renewable energy projects, due to which implementation has been delayed. Nevertheless, he assured the CEB now was taking measures to implement all possible projects in the pipeline. He said: “We have already signed agreements with mini-hydro power producers. During the past four years, the CEB has only added 250 MW, but this year we have already tendered 150 MW of solar while another 150 MW of solar is to be tendered.” In addition, another 100 MW of wind power would also be added to the national grid, he added. Herath also noted that the delayed projects including the Broadlands and Uma Oya Hydropower Projects would be completed this year, while noting that the CEB would be able to complete all renewable energy projects in the pipeline by next year. President’s renewable energy target In President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election manifesto, a 78-page document named “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour”, Rajapaksa highlighted the importance of the renewable energy sector of the country, stating that by 2030, he expects the country’s renewable energy mix to be 40% of the total portfolio and also anticipates that hydro and renewable energy together would account for 80% of the overall energy mix by then. Furthermore, it is stated in his manifesto that 230 MW of power would be added to the national grid by installing the Broadlands Hydropower Station by 2020, Uma Oya by 2021, Moragolla by 2023, Thalapitigala and Seethawaka by 2024, and that 100 MW of wind energy would be installed in Mannar by 2021 and 800 MW of solar energy would be added to the national grid by executing a wind and solar power project with a public-private partnership in potential locations around the country including Mannar, Pooneryn, and Monaragala. It was further stated that rooftop solar systems will be encouraged so that households and small businesses would have access to low-cost energy, which will be done in the course of the next five years. The total cost of such investments would be made available through bank loans with low/concessional interest rates. The Government will also introduce a new method to release excess power generated to the national grid in improving solar energy utilisation. When electing him as President, the people accepted the detailed policy plan submitted by him for the future development of the country, but concerns were raised over the delay in the implementation of policies outlined by the President himself in his manifesto.