The Hon. Kumara Jayakody - Minister of Energy

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, when I look at this Motion today, I wondered whether this was an anti-people Motion brought by people’s representatives. Summarized, that is how it appears. I acknowledge the “Soorya Bala Sangramaya” was important and I thank the Member for that—like engineers, we too live with technology. But just like the private bus industry, solar has grown without adequate regulation. No government managed to properly regulate private buses; likewise, the solar subsector has expanded without a proper framework, and the same issues keep recurring.

¶ 02 Those who initiated this knew that as solar penetration rises, system imbalance rises. If so, was this done knowingly against the public interest and the sector? Normally, when doing such things, there are technological precautions and safety actions to implement. Were they considered? Why were they not implemented? It seems these were done knowingly, anticipating future issues—only when a blackout looms do some awaken and bring distorted proposals to Parliament. I think that is why this Motion was brought.

¶ 03 The Member also misrepresented that a Cabinet Paper has been submitted on this. In fact, such a Paper has not yet been submitted to Cabinet. Proposals and committee recommendations exist; we will act as needed at the right time. But misquoting it as if tabled in Cabinet is wrong. You also said rooftop will be paid Rs. 14.46. That Rs. 14.46 applies to plants above 1 MW. To install 1 MW on a roof, you need a very large roof area—at least around 2.5 acres. Who has such a roof? Compare like with like: ground-mounted at Rs. 19.27 should be compared with rooftop below 20 kW which is proposed at Rs. 19.61—higher. Do not mislead the public with falsehoods. Can anyone put a 1 MW solar plant on a residential roof? If so, explain.