Sri Lanka could beat energy wastage by renewable energy says expert Socomec Group
The Morning: The industrial sector such as textile plants could reduce their energy wastage by 30% saving millions of rupees through instalment of rooftop solar farms instead of diesel power generators, The Daily Morning Business learnt.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, Socomec Group CEO of Asia Pacific O’Niel Dissanayake said: “Sri Lankan industrialists, they immediately looked at the quick win rather than monitoring their install base and power consumption and cutting the waste areas and inefficiencies.”
According to Socomec, the electricity tariff hike depends on the technology that a country utilises to generate power. In Sri Lanka, a larger portion of power is generated by diesel amidst the prices of crude oil prices and maintenance are fluctuating daily.
Moreover, the Government, in fact, can bring the tariff down to help the production of energy with a low cost. The most effective source for renewable energy for Sri Lanka is sunlight, Dissanayake suggested.
“Precisely, most of the industries didn’t go renewable for technologies like solar since the cost was very expensive in the beginning. Now it has evolved and new technologies have come. The cost of the panel and inverter is affordable now,” he elaborated.
At the same time, Dissanayake stated that the Government of Sri Lanka also anticipates getting 70% of the power in Sri Lanka to be renewable which is very exciting for India. Since India is also increasing their competencies in technology manufacturing which will bring more and more sourcing from India. Moreover, there are bilateral agreements and fundings that will benefit Sri Lanka.
Further, the expected benefits for Sri Lanka’s power infrastructure and economy should be to achieve the renewable energy goal since it is a much cheaper generation methodology for a country such as Sri Lanka that has sun most of the time than diesel generation as that can help to bring economic advantage by reducing the energy cost, he explained.
Moreover, Sokomec’s decision to enter the Sri Lankan market despite the economic crisis is, he said that Sri Lanka is not disconnected from the growth aspect of renewable energy despite the revenue limitations.
The expansion plan of Socomec India, a global expert in Low Voltage (LV) power management, has been revealed that the French powerhouse with its headquarters in Chennai is also planning to enter the Sri Lankan market.
OSL take
Sri Lanka’s power industry, especially the renewable energy generation sector, is a hotspot for business/investment opportunities in the country with the ongoing economic activities and the country’s overall growth. The country’s target of increasing the renewable energy component to 70% of the total energy mix has further expanded the opportunities in Sri Lanka’s power industry. It is in such a backdrop that the aforementioned possibility of minimizing energy wastage through renewable energy has been presented. This makes renewable energy generation sector more attractive to local and foreign businesses interested in engaging in the sector. The lucrative nature of the local renewable energy sector is evident by the growth and profits recorded by local businesses engaged in the sector as well as the interest shown by many international companies to invest in the sector. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s renewable energy generation sector, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in the sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20240422/Z_2 |