India, Sri Lanka joint panel meet to take grid connectivity further

India and Sri Lanka’s joint working committee on the power sector will likely meet this month to further discuss grid interconnectivity and renewable energy collaboration, Minister of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka, Kanchana Wijesekera told Economic Times India.

The two countries have been planning to connect their grid to trade power for almost two decades, but the deliberations have picked up pace in the last few years amid green energy ambitions of the countries.

Technical reports are already being discussed with the officials from India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Power Grid Corporation of India and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), ET had reported earlier.

“Investment decisions are yet to be made for which we want to appoint consultants. The consultants will be appointed from both ends. I would say a common consulting firm to understand the financial requirements and agree on the investment, and how the investment is going to take place,” he said.

Discussions will also take place on ongoing projects, especially the solar energy project, where India’s NTPC Ltd is in partnership with the Ceylon Electricity Board. Power purchase agreements on the first phase of the 130-MW power project could be signed soon, he said.

Offshore Wind

The Sri Lankan government is assessing the potential the country has in the offshore wind segment after which it will invite an expression of interest, where it wants Indian companies to participate. There are companies that have shown interest, including Indian companies, Wijesekera said.

Feasibility studies for offshore wind energy are on because the potential that Colombo may have would far exceed its requirements and it’s going to be a surplus, he said. “So if you realise that, of course, we’ll have to look at different other models, export energy, maybe in terms of electricity through the power grid, or whether it’s going to be green hydrogen in the future is something yet to be decided,” he said.

Renewable Energy

Sri Lanka has a target to generate 70% of it’s electricity through renewable energy by 2030 for which it needs to integrate at least 5,000 MW more into its power grid. The capacity could be solar, wind, or floating solar, the minister said.

ENDS