Sri Lanka commissioned its biggest single electricity generator Thursday as part of a two billion dollar investment to reduce tariffs which are among the highest in the world, officials said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa formally linked the 300-mega watt combined cycle power plant at Kerawalapitiya, on the northern edge of Colombo and urged the state-run electricity utility to work towards reducing costs.
Rajapaksa said 85 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population had access to electricity and the rest would be covered by next year, but consumers complained that rates were too high.
"When I go to the villages, people tell me that the rates are very high and they can't afford it," Rajapaksa said. "We need to focus on reducing our generating costs while we increase our capacity."
High domestic consumers pay up to 30 US cents for a unit (one kilo watt hour) making Sri Lanka one of the most expensive places for electricity.
Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy M. M. C. Ferdinando said a Chinese-funded coal power plant will add 300 mega watts of electricity by September while two more hydro electricity generators will be added soon.
"We are looking at investing about two billion dollars in the next two years on projects already in the pipe line," Ferdinando said. "These, as well as grid upgrading, will be done with soft loans from China, India and Iran."
He said the benefit of cheaper power generation could be passed on to consumers soon.
Electricity costs have steadily increased because of Sri Lanka's extensive use of diesel power plants. The country has an installed capacity of 2,700 mega watts of power with 35 percent of that coming from hydro-electricity.
COLOMBO, Feb 27, 2010 (AFP) -
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