Strategies to harness the full hydro-electric potential in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The existing power generating system in Sri Lanka relies upon a mix of generation from renewable sources, predominantly hydropower, with the balance from fossil fuel sources. While the electricity demand continues to grow at an average rate of 6 ~7% per annum, it is projected that the majority of new electricity demand will be met by large centralized coal fired generation plants. Sri Lanka's increasing dependence on imported fossil fuels put pressure on the national economy, and it also has caused a heavy burden on the operational costs of the Ceylon Electricity Board. Their impact on the environment is also a concern. Therefore, increasing the hydro electric generation of the country to the optimum possible level is extremely important. Objectives of this research are to explore the remaining hydro electric potential in the country and to propose strategies to harness this potential on a fast-track basis. Subsequent to this, development of the remaining untapped hydro potential to the optimum possible level and improvement of the output from existing plants were investigated. In this study, remaining hydro electric potential in the country has been estimated to be around 971 MW, and they have the potential of generating about 3,704 GWh, annually. Financial, information, institutional, technical and policy barriers have been identified as main barriers against their development. Introduction of a new institutional model for project financing and attracting private sector financing through different ownership structures have been identified as main strategies to overcome the financial barriers against large hydro development. Improvement of the public awareness and having a firm national policy on developing the remaining hydro potential have also been identified as feasible strategies to overcome the other barriers. Resolving of evacuation limitations, improvement of research & development capacity, introduction of creative project financing options and streamlining the approval process are among the strategies identified to overcome the main barriers against the small hydro development. It has also been revealed that additions of about 355 MW of peaking capacity to the existing large hydro plants are feasible and after completing the ongoing renovation works at several power stations, the total hydro capacity would be increased by another 26 MW. The results of the case study revealed that the generation from Canyon machines could be increased by about 5%, if the maximum efficient operation performance parameters of these machines were considered for their dispatch. Hence, it could be recognized as an effective measure of increasing the generation of existing hydro plants, especially from machines with Francis turbines.