News

Govt explores wind power potential in the North East with Adani assistance

Published

1 year ago

December 10, 2023

editor

The government has already explored the offshore wind power potential in the country especially in the North and East, expediting two mega wind power projects of 286 MW in Mannar and 234 MW in Pooneryn undertaken by India’s Adani Green Energy Ltd for an investment of over US$ 500 million.

Adani has requested the government to include their claim for carbon credit in their project contract under Sri Lanka Carbon Crediting Scheme (SLCCS) established for supporting local clean projects to benefit from climate finance for the Greenhouse Gas emission (GHG) reduction, official sources said.

It has also demanded a government guarantee for their investment in the two projects or to keep shares of another state owned business enterprise as a surety for their money dumped in those projects.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera disclosed that Adani Green Energy has been given approval to implement the projects in August and it has expressed commitment to complete the projects by December 2024.

A cabinet paper on the same projects, dated August 14, 2023, noted that it should be considered as a government-to-government arrangement.

This was the strategy adopted by the government to award the wind power projects in Mannar and Poonaryn, to Adani Green without calling for competitive bids and selecting the most beneficial deal, considering it as a government-to-government proposal.

The cabinet had already considered all aspects of the agreement between the government and Adani Green Energy Ltd and “authorised all the parties to enter into the MoU and to proceed with the required future action”.

According to proposed power purchase agreement, Adani Company has quoted the selling price of wind power unit to be generated by Mannar wind power plant at around $0.14 cents equivalent to around Rs. 46.

The project also included the fixing of three new transformers at Nadukuda grid substation and the laying of the transmission line from the wind power plant to grid substation at a cost of more than double the estimate.

The time period of the public private partnership agreement is 30 years, normally it should be 20 years, a senior official said.

It has been proposed to procure one unit of electricity, from Pooneryn Wind-Solar Hybrid Energy Park, at Rs.46. A total of 234 MW of electricity is generated from the power plant.

The agreements on all other electricity generation projects were signed for 20 years, but the projects of India’s Adani Group had been signed for 30 years.

Adani Green Energy LTD is also eying to take over the contract of laying 173km 400kv transmission line from Kilinochchi to Habarana at an estimated cost of $135 million, he revealed.

(Sunday Times)

Sri Lanka Mirror has learnt from sources close to the project that the proposed rate by Adani is 30% cheaper than the stated Rs 46 and is actually hitting a minimums 10 cents approximate rate.

The Pricing benefit for the consumers for the proposed Wind Power Project is actually lesser than Fossil Fuel and what it is actually being portrayed by the vested interested parties in the CEB with the Wind Energy Project Saving 50Mn USD+ per annum moving out of Sri Lanka.

The current failed power generation is gobbling up precious dollar resources and is at whopping generation costs of 45-60 SL Rupees or even higher at times.

CEB has not allowed advent of IPPs where all across the globe including our neighbours like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and India have all invited Independent Power producers (IPPs) and are reaping benefits of competitive tariffs and reliable generation.

News

President AKD lays wreath at Monument to People’s Heroes (Video)

Published

21 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

editor

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is currently on state visit to China, laid a wreath at the Monument to the People’s Heroes at Tian’anmen Square in Beijing today (Jan. 16).

(Video : CCTV +)

News

India – SL signd MoU to establish 60 smart classrooms

Published

55 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

editor

A Memorandum of Understanding on ‘Establishment of 60 Smart Classrooms in Selected Schools’ in the plantation regions of Sri Lanka, with grant assistance of LKR 508 million from Government of India, was signed and exchanged by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka – Mr. Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Mr B.K. Prabhath Chandrakeerthi today (Jan. 16).

The project envisages establishment of 60 smart classrooms for students in 48 schools in Nuwara Eliya and 6 schools each in Kandy and Badulla Districts identified by the Government of Sri Lanka.

The initiative will enhance knowledge-impartment at the schools, bring learning benefits to the students and also promote information and communications technology integration in these schools.

A statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo further states :

With a development cooperation portfolio with Sri Lanka of over USD 5 billion, India’s people-centric development assistance initiatives in virtually all major sectors are bringing a positive impact in the day-to-day lives of the people of Sri Lanka across all the 25 districts of the country.

The project of establishment of smart classrooms would be yet another initiative in line with the numerous past and ongoing development partnership projects of India in Sri Lanka in the education sector. A selection of a few instances would include setting up of English language laboratories in all provinces of the country; establishment and renovation of auditoriums at numerous institutions across the country, including the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at Ruhuna University; construction of a multi-ethnic tri-lingual school at Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province; renovation works at over 100 schools in the Northern Province; supply of 110 buses to educational institutions across the island; support to vocational training institutions; establishment of smart classrooms and computer labs in 200 schools in the Southern Province; financial assistance to students at University of Jaffna and Eastern University Batticaloa from economically weaker sections of society; among many others. Diplomatic Letters were recently exchanged by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka for doubling the grant support of Government of India to a project of up-gradation of 9 plantation schools. A 3-month teacher-training program in STEM subjects for plantation schools was also conducted recently under the multi-sectoral grant assistance of INR 750 million announced last year to mark 200 years of arrival of Indian-origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka. Over 2000 teachers in plantation schools of Sri Lanka benefitted from the program.

News

Agreement signed with Sinopec to construct oil refinery in H’tota (Video)

Published

3 hours ago

January 16, 2025

editor

During President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s four-day state visit to China, Sri Lanka marked a significant milestone by securing the largest foreign direct investment to date. This significant achievement was formalized this morning (16) with the signing of an agreement between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Energy and Sinopec, a leading Chinese international petroleum corporation.

Under this $3.7 billion investment, a state-of-the-art oil refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels will be constructed in the Hambantota region. A substantial portion of the refinery’s output is planned for export, further enhancing the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

This major investment from China is expected to bolster Sri Lanka’s economic growth while uplifting the livelihoods of low-income communities in the Hambantota area. Moreover, the benefits of this project are anticipated to positively impact the overall Sri Lankan population in the near future.

The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Tourism Vijitha Herath, Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake and Director General of Government Information H. S. K. J. Bandara, alongside other dignitaries.

(President’s Media Division)