No New Coal Plants In Sri Lanka: Govt

Sri Lanka will stop commissioning new coal-fired power plants as part of a push to ditch the dirty fossil fuel, the government said Tuesday, ahead of the COP26 global summit on climate change

Colombo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Oct, 2021 ) :Sri Lanka will stop commissioning new coal-fired power plants as part of a push to ditch the dirty fossil fuel, the government said Tuesday, ahead of the COP26 global summit on climate change.

Coal and hydroelectricity contribute about 44 percent each to Sri Lanka's power supply. Diesel accounts for nine percent, the rest coming from wind and solar.

"The cabinet approved a proposal by the minister of electricity to support the no new coal initiative (of COP26) and allow both local and foreign investors to set up more renewable energy projects," cabinet spokesman Ramesh Pathirana told reporters in Colombo.

No further details were released.

Ceylon Electricity board officials told AFP the decision meant a planned fourth coal-fired power plant in Norochcholai, north of the capital Colombo, would be scrapped.

Plans for the plant were announced a year ago, but no construction work had started.