By: Staff Writer
November 10, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s push toward a digital energy ecosystem is gathering momentum, but progress remains uneven, hampered by funding shortfalls, weak coordination, and the absence of a unified national roadmap, according to the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) State of the Economy 2025 report.
The report highlights that while the National Energy Policy (NEP) 2019 laid the groundwork for digitalisation, its implementation has been fragmented, particularly amid the country’s macroeconomic crisis. Rising import costs and foreign currency shortages have further strained the power sector, limiting the rollout of digital initiatives.
Despite these challenges, interviews with key stakeholders including the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Lanka Electricity Company (LECO), and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) reveal pilot-level progress and early adoption of smart technologies.
Support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been a critical driver, with a $200 million loan aimed at strengthening the national grid and introducing battery storage facilities.
These investments are enabling smart-grid technology adoption, and pilot projects like the one at the University of Moratuwa are advancing both research and student skill development. Feasibility studies are also underway to establish renewable-energy control centres capable of monitoring generation digitally, including wind power plants, under ADB guidance.
Operationally, LECO has launched several digitalisation pilots, including an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and around 5,600 smart-metering initiatives. Roughly 25% of its 38,000 consumer accounts now have smart meters, allowing remote reading and billing. Weather stations installed at key transformers support predictive maintenance, helping staff locate faults within a 10–15 kilometre range.
CEB, serving 7.2 million customers, has also developed its own digital platforms. The CEB Care app and SMS services provide billing, account management, and outage reporting through GPS and GIS-linked tools. LECO’s MyLECO app complements these services with usage tracking, alerts, and multi-language support. Both apps, developed locally, are seen as foundational steps toward transforming utility–consumer engagement.
However, IPS notes that digitalisation targets set under the 2020–2024 energy policy have only been partially met. Constraints include limited resources, lack of coordination, and no comprehensive national digital roadmap.
While LECO is advancing renewable-energy forecasting tools and GIS-based network automation, and CEB pilots digitalisation across its value chain, structural gaps remain. Proposed data-governance policies and mandatory building-management systems through UDA regulations have yet to be fully implemented.
