The Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee on Infrastructure and Strategic Development has pointed out the necessity of revising the prices contained in the Cabinet Paper approved concerning the Kerawalapitiya Sahasdhanavi Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Power Plant.
The Committee informed the Ministry of Power and Energy to revise the prices related to the power plant, which is scheduled to be completed in the future, in order to make them compatible with present conditions.
The Committee instructed Ministry officials to take steps to notify the Cabinet regarding the present status of these prices, since they had been based on factors such as fuel prices and the value of the US dollar prevailing at the time when this procurement process commenced in 2021.
This directive was issued at the Committee meeting held in Parliament this week (25), presided over by MP S.M. Marikkar, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, together with the participation of MPs Nalin Bandara and Jagath Vithana.
Officials representing the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) also participated in the meeting.
At this meeting, the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy and officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board stated that, following Cabinet approval granted in 2020, the CEB had selected this company through a transparent international competitive bidding process conducted for the construction of a 350MW LNG power plant, and that the project had been awarded in 2023.
Attention was also drawn to the Sobadhanavi Power Plant, which has the capacity to operate on both LNG and diesel. Inquiries were raised as to why the plant is still operating solely on diesel power. Officials pointed out that LNG has to be supplied externally through a separate procurement process by selecting a supplier under a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) system at sea. Accordingly, the Committee stressed the need to expedite these activities so that this power plant would be operated using LNG.
The Leader of the Opposition, while reviewing the Sobadhanavi project, highlighted the need to prepare a clear roadmap to ensure that any shortcomings identified there would not occur in the Sahasdanavi project.
Officials further stated that the Sahasdhanavi power plant is scheduled to commence operations by the end of 2027, and that instructions have been issued by the President to ensure that this plant is operated on LNG before the end of 2028.
Accordingly, the Committee informed the officials to provide a clear, short report on these processes, plans, and the present status within two weeks. (Newswire)
