Lopsided decisions on energy View(s):The topic was energy and the government’s painstaking efforts to combat allegations of fraud or official bungling in recent coal purchases to run the Norochcholai coal power plant. There is, however, a bigger picture emerging and this is about the country’s total energy requirement in the future which includes hydropower, fossil-fuel generated (diesel plants) and renewable energy – wind, solar, etc. The Renewable Energy Resources Development Plan 2025–2030, approved by the Cabinet, is a key element of this strategy. However, renewable energy producers, particularly those involved in solar power generation, complain that the CEB has a ‘lukewarm’ approach to solar energy which is contrary to the stated and explicit goal of renewable energy. Some renewable energy experts believe the authorities should set up small, local grids at district level which then can harness the abundance of renewable energy, instead of relying on the national grid.

Source: Sunday Times February 28, 2026 20:29 UTC