Lanka cabinet seeks details about Chinese-contracted energy project

Sri Lankan Cabinet has sought more details about the renewable energy project, whose contract was recently handed over to a Chinese company, in three islands off Jaffna.

This comes after India registered a protest over the selection of the company to execute the project. The islands concerned are the Delft Island, Analativu and Nainativu, the Daily Mirror reported.

The islands, separated by the Palk Strait from India, are in close proximity to India's coast.

It was also reported that 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 USD 12 million project has been awarded to MS/Sinosar-Etechwin Joint Venture in China based on the recommendation given by the Cabinet-Appointed Standing Committee on Procurement.

Spokesman for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Sulakshana Jayawardane told Daily Mirror that the contract was awarded to the Chinese company for the implementation of this project after calling for international competitive bids. He said these are islands with no access to the national grid.

"We currently use diesel power to generate electricity for the island people. It is costly. Therefore, we decided to implement a hybrid renewable energy project," he said.

He said the Cabinet had sought more details about the project and no decision had been made to suspend the projects.

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo also responded to media reports in this regard. A spokesman for the embassy said the company secured the project after participation in an open, competitive tender process. He also said it was a commercial project only.

( With inputs from ANI )