K.T.M. Udayanga Hemapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Energy, Sri Lanka.
| Photo Credit: Meera Srinivasan
Colombo is not seeking to renegotiate the contentious renewable energy project with Adani Green, a top Sri Lankan official said, a week after the company abruptly pulled out of a wind farm initiative in the island’s Northern Province.
Adani Green — which had pledged an investment of $ 442 million in wind power plants in Mannar and Pooneryn — informed Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment [BOI] in a letter dated February 12,2025, that it would “respectfully withdraw” from the project, even as the government sought a lower tariff for power purchase. In a media statement on the decision, a spokesperson of the Adani Group said: “We remain committed to Sri Lanka and are open to future collaboration if the Government of Sri Lanka so desires.”
Also read: Cannot justify Adani’s ‘excessive tariff’, Sri Lanka’s President Dissanayake tells Parliament
However, indicating that the outreach on such a future investment must come from the company’s side, and not Sri Lanka’s, K.T.M. Udayanga Hemapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Energy, told The Hindu on Thursday: “The company has decided to withdraw from the project, it is their call. We are now in the process of addressing the legal requirements after they decided to close the project. But if the company wishes to return, and commits an investment through the BOI, we are open to talking to them based on our position that the tariff must be lower,” he said. While the government is keen to bring in foreign investments to Sri Lanka, it would not lobby any specific investor, he added. “We welcome all investors through proper channels, they must follow due process. We will ensure that the investments are beneficial to our people.”
Citing ongoing cases at Sri Lankan courts challenging the Adani power project, Secretary Hemapala said the petitions were based on three main concerns: whether the project was to be considered “Government-to-Government”, the validity of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) undertaken, and the power-purchasing tariff.
Adani Green’s recent decision to withdraw from the project came weeks after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Cabinet revoked a 2024 power purchasing agreement — signed by the predecessor President Ranil Wickremesinghe administration — according to which Sri Lanka was to purchase power at $0.0826, or 8.26 cents, per kWh from Adani Green Energy. The Cabinet decision was in line with President Dissanayake’s view that Adani Green’s tariff for the project was high , and went against his government’s stated aim of bringing down the electricity tariff by 30 % in the next five years. Further, the Cabinet had appointed a committee to reevaluate the project. In response, a spokesman of the Adani Group told the media on January 24, 2024, that the Sri Lankan government’s decision to reevaluate the tariff was part of a “standard review process”, and categorically denied the project was cancelled as had been reported by some media. But, in just over a fortnight, Adani Green withdrew its investment.
Sampur solar plant
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has cleared a proposal to set up solar power plants in Sampur, in the eastern Trincomalee district, in a joint venture of the governments of Sri Lanka and India, through the Ceylon Electricity Board and National Thermal Power Corporation of India. The plants, of 50 MW and 70 MW capacity, would come up in two stages, according to a statement issued by the Department of Government Information on Thursday. The decision appears to revisit an old project envisaged during the time of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration. In March 2022, the NTPC signed an agreement with CEB to jointly set up a 100 MW solar power plant in Sampur, a decade after a joint coal power project deal at the same location was signed and subsequently scrapped.
Published – February 21, 2025 02:06 am IST
