CEB secures US$150 mn ADB loan for transmission network expansion

From left: ADB Country Director Takafumi Kadono and CEB General Manager Eng. Ronald Comester signing the agreement while Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena Secretary looks on

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a US$150 million loan agreement with state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to support key upgrades in the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure, the CEB said yesterday. 

The financing, approved in November following extensive due diligence, will fund projects under CEB’s long-term transmission plan for 2025-2027 aimed at improving grid reliability and enabling the integration of large-scale renewable energy projects into the national grid.

The funds will be used to construct six new grid substations, 87 km of 132 kV transmission lines, and 45 km of 220 kV transmission lines. Additionally, two existing substations will be augmented.

CEB, along with its distribution subsidiary Lanka Electricity Company (LECO), serves over 7.5 million customers through a transmission network that spans 3,400 km of high-voltage lines and 90 grid substations.