A high-profile team from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is to leave for India to discuss the technical feasibility of the proposed grid connectivity project between the two countries, The Sunday Morning learns.
It is learnt that directives have already been given by the CEB Chairman’s office to name the members of the committee and to take necessary steps to expedite the providing of technical assistance for the policy decision taken by the Ministry of Power and Energy.
The team will inspect and report the technicality of the proposed grid connectivity arrangement and the necessary steps will be taken following the inspection done by the team, it is reliably learnt. It is also learnt that the team is expected to submit its report before President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s upcoming visit to India next month.
Nevertheless, the Government has already decided to go ahead with the project, with an assurance recently given by Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera that the India-Sri Lanka grid connection would be implemented by 2030.
In a recent tweet, the Minister said: “Regional energy integration has been discussed for more than two decades and the Govt. has made it a priority to implement the India-Sri Lanka grid connection by 2030.”
Minister Wijesekera also said the World Bank had been assisting the CEB to understand the technical requirements and business models to implement the project and that he had discussed the plans related to energy integration and renewable energy development with World Bank Director of Regional Integration Cecile Fruman and Country Manager Chiyo Kanda.
Agreement in the making
It is understood that the President is expected to sign the agreement before he leaves for India for the first time since his appointment as Head of State. The three-day official visit to India will commence on 20 July.
In 2002, Nexant, with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), carried out the ‘Pre-feasibility study for electricity grid Interconnection between India and Sri Lanka’. It was the first step in developing the project concept and was expected to serve as the basis for future technical and economic analysis.
In 2006, POWERGRID, India reviewed and updated the study with USAID assistance. The Governments of India and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2010 to conduct a feasibility study for the interconnection of the electricity grids of both countries.
This feasibility study was carried out jointly by CEB and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (POWERGRID), with the main objective of providing the necessary recommendations for the implementation of the 1,000 MW HVDC interconnection project.
Oversea link
As highlighted in the Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP) (2023-2042), the route option for the HVDC line selected for the initial feasibility study consisted of a 130 km 400 kV HVDC overhead line segment from Madurai to the Indian sea coast, 120 km of 400 kV undersea cable from the Indian sea coast to the Sri Lankan sea coast, 110 km overhead line segment of 400 kV from the Sri Lankan sea coast to Anuradhapura, and two converter stations at Madurai and Anuradhapura.
Nevertheless, as per the LTGEP, during the India-Sri Lanka Joint Technical Team studies initiated in 2017, it was proposed to shift the HVDC station on the Sri Lankan side from Anuradhapura to New Habarana.
Further, following the site survey, it had been found that overhead interconnection was feasible without submarine cables. In the study, both synchronous (AC) and asynchronous (DC) options had been studied and the asynchronous interconnection option (DC) had been found desirable.
Asynchronous interconnection (overhead) through 2x500 MW from Madurai to New Habarana along with 500 MW terminals at both ends had been identified as the preferred option in stage I. As stated in the plan, both HVDC converter technologies, Conventional Line Commuted Conversion (LCC) and Voltage Source Conversion (VSC), are expected to be considered in future studies.
The cost of each alternative for combined stages I and II development has been estimated and power flow studies have been conducted from the Indian and Sri Lankan sides during the latest studies, according to the LTGEP. The financial feasibility study is yet to be initiated.
The LTGEP further highlighted that cross-border interconnections in the South Asian region offered new opportunities for greater use of cheaper and cleaner resources as there was a diversity in natural resources and daily and seasonal electricity demand patterns between countries.
Nevertheless, initial proposals on feasibility study and the economic and financial analysis showed that the project was not economically or financially viable. As highlighted, major items affecting the project cost were submarine cable and HVDC technology (conventional HVDC or VSC-based HVDC) selection.
As the technical studies are nearing completion, a detailed economic and financial feasibility assessment to assess the financial viability of the project is to be carried out in the near future.
As stated in the plan, a scenario has been developed by the CEB considering the implementation of 500 MW HVDC in the year 2034.
Accordingly, the estimated investment cost of $ 687 million has been used for evaluation purposes considering the project alternative. Further, the landed cost of 10 US Cents/kWh is considered based on a previous study which includes marginal cost of the Indian system, interconnection transmission charges, reliability support charges, O&M charges, etc. and the same is used in the analysis.
Given the uncertainty of the transfer price at this initial stage, a sensitivity analysis has been performed for the study purpose to examine its impact on the utilisation of the interconnection.
The Indian and Sri Lankan systems had been considered as coordinated systems in the simulation and the energy exchange opportunity had been assessed for the 500 MW HVDC link. It had been observed that the average utilisation of the interconnection for all the considered transfer prices was high due to the high renewable integration to the system.
As estimated by the CEB, the HVDC interconnection project is expected to amount to around $ 18,883 million.
Opposition
Nevertheless, even though the project was included into the CEB’s LTGEP 2023-2042, there has been opposition within the board itself over the implementation of the project, as a section of engineers opine that if the project were to be fully funded by India, it would be advantageous for the country, but if Sri Lanka had to bear half the cost, the project would have no positive effect on the country’s power sector.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a senior engineer who wished to remain anonymous stressed that if a policy decision were to be taken and agreements to be signed, it had to be done following a thorough study since the connection of the two grids would result in Sri Lanka being solely dependent on India for electricity given the grid sizes of the two countries.
“When compared to India, Sri Lanka’s grid is very small in size and if we are to connect two grids, ideally it has to at least be of similar size. Otherwise, we will be depending on them in the future for electricity. If that happens, the sole authority over the unit costs will be on the Indian side as well and it will affect the country’s democracy as well,” the senior engineer lamented.
Meanwhile, CEB Chairman Nalinda Illangakoon told The Sunday Morning that steps would be taken to connect the two grids and as a policy decision had already been taken by the Minister, the CEB would provide required technical assistance for the project.