New renewable tariffs bring battery storage into the equation as regulator says reducing expensive thermal generation could help stabilise electricity prices
Sri Lanka’s electricity regulator has approved new renewable-energy tariffs, including rates for battery storage, in a potentially important step towards solving one of the country’s most frustrating energy problems: producing solar electricity when it is plentiful and needing electricity when the sun is no longer shining.
The Public Utilities Commission says greater reliance on renewable energy coupled with storage could also reduce Sri Lanka’s dependence on thermal generation and help limit the fluctuations in electricity tariffs caused by fuel costs.
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Battery storage changes the equation because surplus electricity generated by solar installations during daylight hours can be stored and released later when demand rises.
That is increasingly important as Sri Lanka expands rooftop and utility-scale solar generation. Without sufficient storage and grid flexibility, large quantities of renewable electricity arriving at the same time can themselves create difficulties for the power system.
The new tariff structure therefore goes beyond simply encouraging another round of solar panels. It begins attaching an economic value to storing renewable electricity and supplying it when the grid actually needs it.
The policy arrives as Sri Lanka also faces concern that El Niño conditions could increase electricity demand while placing pressure on hydroelectric generation.
Sri Lanka has set itself a target of generating 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Achieving that will require considerably more than ambitious percentages announced at conferences.
It will require generation, transmission and increasingly, storage.
The sun already sends Sri Lanka the fuel free of charge.
The trick is learning how to keep some of it for after dark.
PUCSL has approved the new renewable feed-in structure and battery-storage purchase rates, while separately arguing that reducing thermal generation would help stabilise tariffs.
