3 October 2016 02:15 am Views - 2922
He said however, the Indian-funded LNG plant would be relocated at Kerawalapitiya which has been identified as the best location for its construction.
President Maithripala Sirisena requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert the coal power plant to a liquid gas power plant when the President met him during his official visit to India in May last year.
The MoU for the first stage of the US$600 million coal power plant was signed on December 29, 2006, between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The Power Purchase Agreement, Implementation Agreement, BOI Agreement, Land Lease Agreement and Coal Supply Agreement were signed on October 7 2013 by relevant parties including the Government the CEB and the Trincomalee Power Company Limited. The power station was expected to begin operations in 2017.
However, there was opposition to the coal-power plant from people living in the area. Prominent leaders like R Sampanthan and Rauf Hakeem have expressed reservations about the plant and in the wake of these protests the President made the request from Mr. Modi.
Dr. Batagoda said the work on the project might begin in 2018 and the power plant commissioned in 2021. He said the cost of construction will be two-thirds of the coal power plant and a unit price would also be less than of the unit price of thermal power.
He said the government expected to reach a 20-year agreement to purchase LNG based on global tenders when the Kerawalapitiya LNG power plant was commissioned.
“The government policy is to have more energy security and therefore Power and Renewable Energy Ministry endeavours to ensure to have mix energy resources. We should have strong and mixed power resources such as hydro, coal, solar, wind, thermal, LNG, bio gas to ensure energy security and uninterrupted power generation round the year. We do not depend on one or two energy sources considering the cost, supply, storage and maintenance and operational factors. The least cost application must also be maintained with mixed energy sources at the same time in order to ensure clean and low cost power generation,” Dr. Batagoda said. “Right now we do not have an LNG power plant which is considered one of the best options in terms of cost and environment protection. Besides, we are in the dark with regard to the fluctuation in the cost of coal in the global market and tax on coal,” he added. (Sandun A Jayasekera)