CEB educating northern public on benefits of Chinese power project

 Amidst diplomatic concerns raised by India over awarding tender to a Chinese company to develop hybrid renewable energy plants in three islands in the North, its local commissioning authority, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) launched awareness campaigns in the islands this week to educate locals on the benefits if the projects are to be implemented in near future.

Local CEB staff attached to the islands where electricity is currently provided through diesel engines on a timely basis visited the local communities to hand out brochures and leaflets that spell out the advantages of setting up a renewable energy plant on the islands.

In Nainativu, one of the islands selected for the energy project where 2544 families reside, the proposed land for the project is yet to be finalised as talks are underway to acquire a plot of privately-owned land.

Under the proposed renewable energy project, the plant will consist of solar (700KWp), windmills (200KW), electrical power supply (500KW) in addition to diesel generators(300-500KW)  are to be constructed in Nainativu islet.

The Supporting Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project, a project coordination arm of CEB based in Kurunegala is tasked with overall implementation of the projects in the island. A team from Kurunegala also visited the proposed sites in the islands recently.

According to their leaflets distributed by the CEB staff, all the power projects are environment friendly without any impact to local agrarian efforts and assured it might even pave way for employment opportunities for the unemployed local youths.

“The concerns raised by some parties for the Chinese involvement in the project were unwarranted since the company is tasked with implementation of the project. The plants will be maintained and operated by the CEB alone,” a CEB official who was part of the visiting team to the islands told Times Online.

In 2017, a pilot project of renewable energy plant was constructed in Eluvaithivu, another island in North where a Sweden-based company developed the plant and was declared open by former Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. Currently the plant is providing electricity to the island without any disruption, unlike diesel run power generators in the past.

“The proposed renewable energy plants are similar to this pilot project where there won’t be any Chinese presence after the completion of the project,” the official stressed.

Earlier India protested against awarding the tender worth USD 12 million project to MS/Sinosar-Etechwin Joint Venture in China on the basis that it posed security concerns since the islands - Delft Island, Analativu and Nainativu were in close proximity to India’s coast. The Delft Island is only 48 kilometers away from the Indian coastal town of Rameshwaram.

The energy project’s local partner, the Ceylon Electricity Board, has finalised matters related to the project by identifying lands for the joint venture with Etechwin of China. The funds for the project are to come from the Asian Development Bank. The award to the Chinese company was recommended by the Cabinet-Appointed Standing Committee on Procurement.

Under the project, international competitive bids were called to install hybrid renewable energy systems in the three islands utilising the accessible energy resources to improve the efficiency of the prevailing energy network.

Early this week, Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay met Minister of Power and Energy Dallas Alahapperuma and reportedly indicated that India will offer the total cost of USD 12 million as grant to undertake the same project. A new cabinet memorandum in this regard is yet to be submitted.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Colombo hit back against the Indian intervention saying that the Chinese company secured the tender after international competitive bids were called and ruled out any ulterior motives behind the deal.

Tamil political parties based in the North also criticised the move of granting the tender to a Chinese company in Northern islands which they claimed would increase the Chinese presence in the region since islands were located closer to Indian coast. They also stressed under the Indo-Lanka pact and 13th Amendment, the government cannot take arbitrary decisions that would cause security concerns to India.

China already maintains a low level presence in the North by undertaking road developments and renovation of rural roads across the region after it secured tenders through a bidding process.

The China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), Chinese state run arm in the construction industry, opened a branch in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna recently to oversee the implementation of the projects.

(By S. Rubatheesan)