Japan likely to invest in a coal-fired power project: Harsha

[sashimaalTop contributor]

Japan is expected to invest in a coal power project in Sri Lanka which was provided 600 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, a Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Harsha de Silva said yesterday.

He is currently visiting Japan on the invitation of the Japanese Government and told Daily Mirror by phone that it would be a high efficiency coal-fired power generation project.

The deputy minister said the Japanese investment would be in addition to the proposed coal-fired project in Sampur on a joint venture with India.

However, he said he could not provide further details on the proposed project with Japan.

“We have to identify a suitable location for the project,” he said.

In January, Japan agreed with India to support the introduction of high-efficiency coal-fired power generation and renewable energy technology.

The deputy minister said Japan would invest heavily in the development of urban transportation in Sri Lanka.

“It is actually urban mass transportation. I cannot give exact details at the moment. In addition Japan will invest in the airport expansion project. Japan which has a positive attitude towards Sri Lanka will provide funding in a manner that will not be a burdan to the Sri Lankan Government,” he said.

The Norochcholai Coal-Fired power plant located in Puttalam generates 900 megawatts of electricity. (Kelum Bandara)

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[CubedSol]

Why are we STILL going after Coal ??

[yellow knifeTop contributor]

Very good question

Coal is said Dirty Energy.

We may have got Norochchalei from China and may be useful.

Yet what we should now concern is more cleaner energy.

Chinese got Olympics yet the Olympic Committee was worried about the environmental pollution. So China shifted these coal plants away from China. May be we got such one..

But why Japan ?

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Encourage people to use renewable sources are far better than look for dirty ones.
Solar and wind both have their own limitations, thus a mix bag of both is a much better option.
Domestics may prefer the former but medium and big industrial boys can be encouraged to go for both with decent incentives.

[Hybrid]

Agree with Kith.
That's the last thing that Japan will want to be associated with especially after the Tsunami disaster and the affects of the Nuclear plant shut down

[pathfinderTop contributor]

Heard of thousand and one proposals on daily basis but nothing has been a successful venture yet.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

NATO boys

Heard of thousand and one proposals on daily basis but nothing has been a successful venture yet.

[Yin-Yang]

What we, Sri Lankans, lack is a mechanism to promote innovation. There are ample 'free' energy sources in and around the country be it wind, water flows, solar, vegetation or ocean waves.

What we need is a mechanism to stimulate brains to find means of tapping them.

[Hybrid]

What we, Sri Lankans, lack is a mechanism to promote innovation. There are ample 'free' energy sources in and around the country be it wind, water flows, solar, vegetation or ocean waves.

What we need is a mechanism to stimulate brains to find means of tapping them.

May be some brain washing will do the trick!

[HAL9000Top contributor]

All of us like to talk about clean energy, but none of us ready to stay in dark , when drought hit hydropower generation, Low sunlight hit Solar power generation and Low wind flow hit wind power generation.
The answer is Coal, Oil, Nuclear power. Recent events showed this reality. At least we should have standby installed capacity of thermal plants to avoid such mess.

[sashimaalTop contributor]

Agree ; we need to gradually move out to cleaner sources. Overnight we can't provide solar or wind power to the Country. However the time lines of construction needs to be considered. If it takes a long time, by the time it's ready we maybe talking of phasing out those power options to cleaner ones

We have almost moved out of oil which is expensive and not clean.
Nuclear is a bit far away unless one of our neighbors can help.

All of us like to talk about clean energy, but none of us ready to stay in dark , when drought hit hydropower generation,  Low sunlight hit Solar power generation and Low wind flow hit wind power generation.
The answer is Coal, Oil, Nuclear power. Recent events showed this reality. At least we should have standby  installed capacity of thermal  plants to avoid such mess.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Agree ; we need to gradually move out to cleaner sources. Overnight we can't provide solar or wind power to the Country. However the time lines of construction needs to be considered. If it takes a long time, by the time it's ready we maybe talking of phasing out those power options to cleaner ones    

We have almost moved out of oil which is expensive and not clean.
Nuclear is a bit far away unless one of our neighbors can help.

All of us like to talk about clean energy, but none of us ready to stay in dark , when drought hit hydropower generation,  Low sunlight hit Solar power generation and Low wind flow hit wind power generation.
The answer is Coal, Oil, Nuclear power. Recent events showed this reality. At least we should have standby  installed capacity of thermal  plants to avoid such mess.

No doubt, It is the  most important thing in this century to minimize the harm to environment during the economic development process. Mind you more than half of the global population has not yet achieved the status of "A Developed Nation" So more damage during the cause is inevitable.
But Irony is, the so called western countries burnt massive amount of coal and oil during their development process in 19th and 20th centuries, now wealthy enough to replace clean but costly sources like Wind, Solar ( Nuclear energy also Clean eh !). Developing countries like SL can not invest massively in those high CapEx ventures nor they can meet the rapidly rising demand in coming decades. But thank to mega hydro power projects took place under Mahaweli, and recent interests on mini-hydro,solar and Wind power, Sri Lanka is in a commendable position with regard to Clean Energy. However there should be a balance, specially considering the fact that the renewable sources generation varies unpredictably according to weather pattern such as rain fall, wind flow etc.



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