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After Adani gets 500 MW project, local RE companies seek equal treatment
View(s):With India’s Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) securing 500 MW of wind power projects in the North, Sri Lankan renewable energy (RE) companies are urging the government to open up the sector through transparent, competitive tenders.
Representatives of around 50 local RE companies met Power and Energy State Minister D.V. Chanaka this week and requested that he publicise all opportunities for investment so they could compete. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) did call for proposals this week for a 50 MW wind farm in Mannar. The ICB (international competitive bidding) seeks suitable developers with the financial and technical ability to develop the farm on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis.
Separately, the CEB invited proposals from prospective developers through ICB for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 165 MW (also on a BOO basis) to be connected to 20 substations. The installed capacity of one plant must be in the range of 1–5 MW.
“They float two tenders, but there is around 1 GW of work going on via unsolicited proposals which will up available grid capacity rapidly,” protested Lakmal Fernando, Secretary of the Energy Council of the National Chamber of Commerce. “They have advertised only for 215 MW.” A gigawatt is one billion megawatts.
“There are more than 650 applications pending from 2016 at the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA). They were submitted by local renewable energy producers,” Dr. Fernando added.
Last year, former CEB General Manager Rohan Seneviratne revealed at a media conference that there was 2,700 MW of grid capacity available to deploy renewable energy. “This changed the entire landscape, but they never revealed where capacity was available,” he said.
With its projects, AGEL will take up 20 percent of grid capacity. They were not awarded via tenders and also do not fit into the category of government-to-government projects, although they have been window-dressed as such, the local industry said.
“There are substations and 33,000 transformers in Sri Lanka,” Dr. Fernando explained. “The Ministry must publicise which transfer or substation has what percentage of capacity available. Then, it is easy for any developer with the appetite to develop renewable energy to move into that area, buy properties, and apply for a project.”
There is no provision for unsolicited proposals above 10 MW under the current Electricity Board Act. The industry intends to make a written appeal to the government next week with eight proposals.
“In any developed country, the larger renewable energy projects are given out on a competitive bidding basis, not to unsolicited proposals from anyone who comes with their own tariff,” Dr. Lakmal said. “What we do here seems very, very grey.”
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