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Govt. in bid to bring down Sampur power plant tariff
View(s):The Energy Ministry will seek Cabinet approval next week for a new negotiated tariff of US cents 5.97 payable by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for each kilowatt hour of energy sold to the national grid by the 135 MW Sampur solar power plant proposed to be built by India’s NTPC Ltd.
Negotiations had started at around US cents 7 per kWh, said Udayanga Hemapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Energy. But it has now been lowered to US cents 5.97.
As a joint venture between NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation) and CEB, the project is differently structured from the proposed Adani Green Energy Sri Lanka Limited (AGESLL) wind power plants in Pooneryn and Mannar.
For these Adani projects, too, the Sri Lanka government is seeking a revision in the tariff approved by the Cabinet in May last year.
Last month, the Attorney General’s (AG) Department informed the Supreme Court that the government would revoke a May 2024 Cabinet decision approving a tariff of US cents 8.26 per kWh for the Adani wind power plants in Pooneryn and Mannar. The motion also said a new Project Committee and a Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee will be set up to re-evaluate the terms and conditions and to arrive at a new tariff with AGESLL. Neither committee has still been appointed, Prof. Hemapala said, adding that the government will first get the court’s sanction before proceeding. A meeting is scheduled to be held with the AG’s Department next week in this regard.
“If the AG says we can proceed without court clearance, we can do so,” he explained. “However, if we are told we must wait till the cases are over, we won’t be able to start discussions till then.” 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.
Prof. Hemapala also said the Government is looking at a rate closer to US cents 5 per kWh for the Adani projects. “Our target is to reduce the cost of generating electricity,” he explained. “For that, we can only accept projects at less than US cents 6 (per kWh). This doesn’t relate merely to the Adani projects but to everything.”
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