Title: Development of variable renewable energy policy in developing countries: a case study of Sri Lanka

Authors: Xunpeng Shi; Hengsi Chen; Yang Yu; Fushuan Wen

Addresses: Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, 119620, Singapore ' Research Group Network Planning and Network Operation, Institute of Power Systems and Power Economics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany ' Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA ' Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei (Brunei University of Technology), Bandar Seri Begawan BE1410, Negara Brunei Darussalam

Abstract: Development of policy for variable renewable energy (VRE), such as wind and solar power, could be difficult in developing countries that have limited capacity, limited technical, and fiscal resources. Sri Lanka is such a case. Although Sri Lanka has a potential to develop VRE, the development was neither sufficient nor smooth. This study explores the development of VRE in the 2000s and analyses the impacts of the cost reflective feed-in-tariffs (FITs). The study finds that VRE public policy in Sri Lanka can be improved in a number of ways: better coordination among government agencies; technology specific policy and accommodation of cost dynamics; and redesign of subsidy policies. Generally, the governance mechanism suggested in this research is an innovated structure to coordinate multiple government agencies by specifying policies according to technologies and redesigning the subsidy structures by accommodating the cost dynamics.

Keywords: Sri Lanka; variable renewable energy; VRE; feed-in-tariff; FIT; stakeholder impact assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2018.090682

International Journal of Public Policy, 2018 Vol.14 No.1/2, pp.10 - 29

Received: 26 Sep 2015
Accepted: 29 Jun 2016
Published online: 27 Mar 2018 *

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