Sri Lankan government gives green light to set up two LNG power plants to address looming power crisis
The government of Sri Lanka has reportedly decided to award the tender to set up two 300MW LNG plants in Kerawalapitiya.
Highly-placed Cabinet sources have been quoted by Daily FT saying that as per the recommendations of Power and Energy Minister of Sri Lanka Ravi Karunanayake, a contract will be awarded to Lakdhanavi Ltd. to set up a new 300MW LNG plant, while approving the Procurement Appeals Board (PAB) Recommendation to award the contract to build the Kerawalapitiya 300MW LNG plant, the bidding process of which concluded last year, to the Consortium of GCL China Windforce and RenewGen.
Once successfully awarded, the LNG plants would be the first to be constructed after the Lakvijaya Coal Plant in Norochcholai that was completed almost a decade ago.
The state owned power utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has not been able to commission any new power plants included in their Long Term Generation plants since 2013.
The Power and Energy Minister has reportedly recommended to operate the proposed plants solely on LNG power from the beginning in order to reduce costs.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government is in the process of promoting renewable energy in the country in order to address the looming power crisis. The rapidly growing demand for power and the shortfall in supply is to be addressed in several stages by the government. However, foreign businesses engaged in the power and energy sector will find many investment/business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector. Apart from presenting the latest low cost power generation methods, foreign businesses/investors could look at the project pipeline in Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector and look at the possibility of partnering in such projects.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/14022019/Z_1 |