COLOMBO — 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.
اضافة اعلان
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.
Demand is now expected to be met by future renewable projects.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s spokesperson, Kingsly Rathnayaka, confirmed to AFP Tuesday that the Sri Lankan leader would attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, which starts on October 31.
Unlike many countries, the island nation is yet to release a net-zero target.
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