The government, on the advice of the CEB has been aggressively promoting the implementation of the Coal Power plant at Sampur. The argument brought forward is the dire prediction of an impending power shortage in 2017 and the promise of cheap electricity. This is now reinforced by the euphoria of reported savings by the operation of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant as published in the Sunday Leader of 24th January 2016. However, as usual the reportage is one sided ignoring all the ill effects and non disclosed costs and hidden dangers of coal power to the country.

Primarily the euphoria is based on the comparison of cost of generation in comparison to the cost of electricity from oil based power plants. However, the decision to install oil based power plants, and the selection of auto diesel, the most expensive fuel was also made by the CEB, and the country has paid the price for this folly for several decades now. Therefore the boast of cost savings on this basis is one more effort to deceive the public and an attempt to cover up the past follies.

The major selling point used by the CEB to promote more and more coal power plants is the promise of low cost of generation. We have seen many numbers being quoted. The CEB Engineers union quoted a cost of a mere Rs 5.00 per kWh just a few weeks ago. The price quoted in the article referred to above was Rs 8.00 per kWh. The numbers for last year were Rs 13.00 and a projected cost of Rs 18.00 for Sampur. No one seems to be able to describe what elements of cost are taken into this calculation of cost of generation.

However, a recent news paper article has highlighted the fallacy of this argument on one hand and has also brought in to focus, the many negative impacts of such coal power plants, which appear to be ignored by those promoting the venture and being hidden from the public. Furthermore at the panel discussion conducted by the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy titled “The Future of Earth after Paris Meeting . Sri Lanka’s Responsibility” it was most emphatically stated that the economic cost of coal based power to the country is the highest, second only to oil based power. The panelist made an open challenge to anyone to prove him wrong. The economic cost was stated to be over Rs 27.00 per kWh, way above the prices being quoted by the CEB, according to their narrow self centered basis of calculation. It was further pointed out that the economic cost is not inclusive of the environmental and health costs, which will make it even higher than that of oil based power. This issue was also recognized in the Manifesto of the President which states that,

Social, environmental, and economic costs & benefits should be properly considered

Exchange rate change and the impact of imported fuel on the foreign currency reserve should be considered.

The economic cost is borne by the whole country, even though it is not reflected in the electricity bill.