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Govt revokes Adani wind power decision; minister denies cancellation
View(s):By Namini Wijedasa
The Government has revoked a May 2024 Cabinet decision pertaining to the Adani Green Energy
Sri Lanka Ltd (AGESLL) initiative to develop wind power plants in Mannar and Pooneryn.
A new Project Committee (PC) and a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) are to be appointed to re-evaluate the terms of the proposal. According to the minutes of the relevant Cabinet meeting, the decision was taken on December 30, 2024, and conveyed by Cabinet Secretary W.M.D.J. Fernando to Energy Ministry Secretary Udayanga Hemapala on January 2 this year. It was not announced to the public. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was in India from December 15-17, 2024.
The latest developments were notified by the Attorney General in a motion to the Supreme Court (SC) dated January 10, 2025. There are currently four Fundamental Rights applications before the SC and one writ application before the Court of Appeal (CA) challenging the Adani wind power projects.
The motion revealed that the Government had decided to revoke a Cabinet decision dated May 6, 2024, that was taken based on a Cabinet memorandum dated May 3, 2024, submitted by the then Minister of Power and Energy. But the documents presented to court did not include the May 3 Cabinet memorandum, which would have revealed what the Energy Ministry sought and obtained approval for. (There have been several other Cabinet papers related to the project).
The new government first took up the Adani wind power projects on October 7—two weeks after Mr. Dissanayake was sworn in as President, according to court documents. His three-member interim Cabinet instructed the Cabinet Secretary to seek time from the Superior Courts “to submit the stand of the present Government”. It also directed the Energy Ministry Secretary to take action in consultation with the relevant authorities and parties “to review the projects”.
Accordingly, a review meeting was held on November 21, 2024. In attendance were 14 officials from the Energy Ministry, the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) and an adviser from the Asian Development Bank.
Among other things, they recommended revoking the Cabinet decision that had sanctioned a purchase price of US$ 8.26 cents per kilowatt hour of energy from the Pooneryn and Mannar AGESLL plants negotiated by a previous CANC. They suggested that the AGESLL project proposal be reviewed. They recommended the setting up of a new CANC to renegotiate the power purchase agreement (PPA) which could then be submitted to Cabinet for approval.
Their report, which was submitted to court, also said prices should be benchmarked to the prevailing market situation as well as terms of other power projects awarded via tender to be built in the same area (the AGESLL project was not a tender and is being treated as an India-Sri Lanka government-to-government initiative). And it recommended that the SLSEA passes funds for a feasibility study to be conducted using local consultant to identify the renewable energy potential of Mannar Island.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Nalinda Jayatissa told a media conference yesterday that the government had not decided to cancel the Adani wind power projects in Mannar and Pooneryn. He confirmed that the government would review the projects for which a committee had been appointed. “That is the only decision the government has taken,” he said. “The government has not taken a decision to cancel the project.”
The objective was to arrive at an agreement that would be more beneficial to Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector and the public, Minister Jayatissa said, adding that Cabinet would decide based on the committee report what changes were suitable, specifically to the earlier negotiated tariff per kilowatt hour of energy. Cabinet will also take into consideration the court ruling, once delivered.
When asked what the revoked Cabinet paper said, the minister said he hadn’t brought the document to the media conference but that it had been “related to the tariffs”. The specific contents of the May 3 Cabinet memorandum were, therefore, not released at yesterday’s media briefing.
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