Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed the nation about the pressure on the electricity grid at night due to vehicle charging, AFP reported on March 18.
People typically charge electric vehicles after each workday. This activity adds an additional 300 MW of electricity each night. “We are forced to operate all power plants to meet this increase,” President Anura said.
Most of the nighttime electricity supply comes from a 900 MW coal power plant and a 1,000 MW oil power plant – completely contrary to the green, clean image that electric vehicles aim for. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has abundant and surplus solar power during the day. They lack large-scale battery storage systems, so they cannot optimize this energy source.
The government is urging people to switch to charging vehicles during the day to save electricity. Authorities also plan to implement higher tariffs to limit nighttime charging activities.
The number of electric vehicles in Sri Lanka has surged since February last year, after the country lifted a five-year ban on car imports. Previously, due to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, Sri Lanka had imposed import restrictions to conserve foreign exchange reserves, focusing these reserves on essential items such as medicine, fuel, and food.
In response to the energy crisis due to the Middle Eastern conflict, this South Asian country has begun distributing fuel on a quota basis. Drivers are required to register for a National Fuel Card to limit the amount of fuel they are allowed to purchase. According to the weekly fuel quota, bus drivers can purchase 60 liters, personal cars 15 liters, and motorcycles only 5 liters.
Regarding oil supply, Mr. Dissanayake stated that they cannot secure two shipments of 90,000 tons of crude oil due to the war in the Middle East. However, the government is negotiating with “friendly countries” including India and Russia to purchase refined oil.
To save fuel, Sri Lanka has also implemented a four-day workweek starting March 18. Wednesday will be a holiday for the public sector. This regime will also apply to schools but will not affect state units providing essential services, such as health and immigration agencies. Making Wednesday an additional holiday is a more suitable option than Friday, to avoid government agencies being closed for three consecutive days, according to authorities.