There are over 300 solar power projects awaiting government approval to be launched but official bureaucracy has resulted in these not taking off, said the President of the newly formed Federation of Renewable Energy Developers (FRED), Thusitha Peiris.
He said that people should not only blame politicians for the crisis but government officials too have to take the blame for this.
“We appeal to speed up the approval process even now so that in two years’ we can generate sufficient renewable energy (RE) and first eradicate power cuts and second save the country over USD 1 billion by cutting down fuel imports for power generation.”
He said former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had a vision to have 70% of power generation by using wind, biomass and solar power but due to bureaucracy this was not possible.
FRED officials said the Government owed them over Rs. 30 billion for providing power and due to this they face tremendous hardships when paying employees and servicing their bank loans. - SS