Within our children’s lifetimes, Sri Lanka will be powered entirely by green, renewable energy. This optimistic prediction appeared in a new report produced jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It also says that electricity production will increase almost ten-fold from the current 3,700 megawatts to about 34,000 megawatts.
The report titled ‘Assessment of Sri Lanka’s Power Sector—100 per cent Electricity Generation through Renewable Energy by 2050,’ says that 15,000 megawatts will be wind energy and about 16,000 megawatts will be solar energy.
The rest of the power is expected to come from hydro and biomass based plants. They will help to balance supply – to deal with the peaks and troughs in renewable generation which occur when the sun goes in and the wind drops.
There will also need to be electricity storage solutions to provide instantaneous power of 3,600 megawatts and an energy storage capacity of 15,000 megawatt hours. This is needed to ensure stability of the electricity grid and make sure the lights always stay on.
But what would these storage solutions look like? Excess power produced by solar and wind could be converted by electrolysis into hydrogen gas, which could be burnt at night to produce electricity. This is a completely clean technology that produces pure water as a by-product.
Giant batteries
Another storage method would be giant batteries. In July, it was announced that Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, will build the world’s largest lithium ion battery to store renewable energy in South Australia in partnership with French energy utility Neoen.
The 129 megawatt hour battery, which is paired with a wind farm, is designed to improve the security of electricity supplies across South Australia.
Musk told reporters in Adelaide the project was not without technical challenges, given it would be the largest battery installation in the world “by a significant margin.”
“When you make something three times as big, does it still work as well? We think it will, but there is some risk in that,” he said.
“We’re confident in our techniques and the design of the system.”
The battery forms a key part of the state government’s $550m energy plan drawn up after last year’s state-wide power blackout – and if it is as successful as Elon Musk hopes, could form the basis of energy storage solutions in Sri Lanka in the future.
The UNDP and ADB report also has good news for the Sri Lankan economy. It suggests that the country could save a total of $18 billion between now and 2050 as the island moves away from imported oil and coal to clean, home grown renewables.
The report estimates that in order to transition to 100% electricity generation by renewable energy, Sri Lanka will need investment of $50 billion. This sounds like an enormous amount of money, but spread over the next 30 years it works out at less than $2 billion a year.
According to the Director of the South Asia Energy Division, Priyantha Wijayatunga, “The ADB has expressed its continuous support for low-carbon development of Sri Lanka.” “Recent proposals including a rooftop solar programme and a large-scale wind power project demonstrate the ADB’s commitment in this regard. This assessment report can serve as a comprehensive example for future utilities globally on how decentralized clean energy services can be governed.”
Way forward
Climate Change Technical Adviser of the UNDP, Alexandra Soezer agrees that green energy is the way forward for Sri Lanka. “We will continue to expand our activities in this field and pave the way for a better tomorrow.”
It’s not only in Sri Lanka where renewables are making huge progress. For example, Norway is becoming the world’s first fully electric-powered country with a concerted push for sustainability, according to an energy think tank.
EnergiNorge, an industry advisory body, set out its green energy programme and said it was possible for the country to operate entirely using clean electricity by 2050.
Hydropower is currently the source of over 96 per cent of Norway’s electricity and there are more than 110,000 electric cars in use in the country and the government recently declared that no vehicles powered by fossil fuels will be sold in Norway after 2025.
According to the Director of EnergiNorge, “Our target is for Norway, based on hydropower and better collaboration between businesses and the authorities, to become the world’s first fully electric society by 2050. That will enable us to take a leading role in climate work while improving our competitiveness.”
Meanwhile, in India the price of solar energy has fallen so quickly this year, that it has cancelled plans to build nearly 14 gigawatts of coal-fired power stations. Analyst Tim Buckley said the shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel and towards solar in India would have ‘profound’ implications on global energy markets.
This is already being reflected, with solar panel capacity set to overtake nuclear energy next year in a historic landmark.
The total capacity of nuclear power is currently about 391.5 gigawatts, but the total capacity of photovoltaic cells is expected to hit 390 gigawatts by the end of this year with demand growing at up to 8 per cent per year, according to GTM Research.
While this would be a landmark moment for renewable energy, nuclear still generates much more electricity than solar – nearly 2.5 million gigawatt-hours a year compared to the latter’s 375,000 gigawatt-hours.
Stephen Lacy, writing on GTM’s website, said: “It’s still going to be a record-breaking year for new solar capacity additions – yet again.”
Stephen Lacy added: “In the last three years, growth rates and cost reductions for solar have far exceeded projections. Meanwhile, high costs, slow construction, and competitive renewable alternatives are causing the global nuclear industry to falter.”
“The trend lines are becoming clearer every year.”
The sun delivers enough energy to the earth in an hour to provide humans with everything they need for an entire year.
As a tropical island, Sri Lanka is well placed to take advantage of all this free energy – as long as the country can continue to develop green energy policies and attract the necessary foreign investment.
Source – 30/08/2017,Ceylon Today, See more at – http://www.ceylontoday.lk/print20170401CT20170630.php?id=28826
