“Despite declaring the objects of the proposed Act to be “allowing open competitive procurement of new generation capacity including renewable energy”, the body of this Act states the complete opposite,” the IESL said.

“The present practice of procuring renewable energy projects at higher prices through negotiated deals and at feed-in-tariffs that never decrease, has been further strengthened by incorporating it into the main electricity legislation in the country, when most countries have given up such practices long ago to make way for competition.

“The proposed Act does not have clauses that bring any relief to Sri Lanka’s electricity customer, burdened with prices almost double that of competitor countries in the region.

“Similarly, procurement of transmission capacity can be non-competitive…”

Privately owned transmission can also be procured without competition, the IESL said.

India’s Adani is expected to build a transmission line apparently without competitive tender.

It is also building the largest renewable plant in the island so far without competitive tender.

Related India’s Adani to build Sri Lanka transmission line with wind plants

The IESL said the powers of the Public Utilities Commission would also be watered down through the new law.

“This Council and the Minister have been bestowed with powers to decide on electricity tariff policy and approval of the long-term power generation and transmission plans, too, making a mockery of these highly technical functions so far handled by the PUCSL,” the IESL said.

“Instead of strengthening the existing regulatory functions and capacity of PUCSL, this Act makes PUCSL an agency that merely implements what the Minister and his Council decides.

“The worldwide best practice is otherwise: a stronger, highly professional and fiercely independent regulator implements the law and the policy, through licensing.”

The full statement is reproduced below:

The Proposed Sri Lanka Electricity Act 2024

The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) is the apex body representing over 25,000 professional engineers. IESL has closely followed the developments in the electricity supply industry, making constructive recommendations to ensure customers receive a reliable electricity supply at a regionally competitive price. Sadly, both the above conditions have not been fulfilled owing to actions or inaction of governments and sector institutions. The electricity sector has been moving from one crisis to another. In the ongoing efforts to reform the sector, IESL made several representations to the government since 2022. Sadly, the proposed Act tabled in Parliament in April 2024 does not reflect most necessary recommendations of IESL and other stakeholders who value meaningful reforms, thus failing to bring solutions to several serious shortcomings in the sector.

Instead of making the sector governance simpler and the government intervention smaller, the proposed Act creates a new institution called an Advisory Council. It duplicates some functions or transfers some functions of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) – the regulator, to the Council.

The proposed Act hands over the role of the government as the policy maker to the Advisory Council appointed solely by the Minister of Power and Energy. This Council and the Minister have been bestowed with powers to decide on electricity tariff policy and approval of the long-term power generation and transmission plans, too, making a mockery of these highly technical functions so far handled by the PUCSL. Instead of strengthening the existing regulatory functions and capacity of PUCSL, this Act makes PUCSL an agency that merely implements what the Minister and his Council decides. The worldwide best practice is otherwise: a stronger, highly professional and fiercely independent regulator implements the law and the policy, through licensing.

Despite declaring the objects of the proposed Act to be “allowing open competitive procurement of new generation capacity including renewable energy”, the body of this Act states the complete opposite. The present practice of procuring renewable energy projects at higher prices through negotiated deals and at feed-in-tariffs that never decrease, has been further strengthened by incorporating it into the main electricity legislation in the country, when most countries have given up such practices long ago to make way for competition. The proposed Act does not have clauses that bring any relief to Sri Lanka’s electricity customer, burdened with prices almost double that of competitor countries in the region. Similarly, procurement of transmission capacity can be non-competitive, and in addition this Act allows private transmission lines.

The proposed Act allows private investments in generation, transmission, and distribution. However, the authority to grant a license to conduct such a business, presently with PUCSL (which is the worldwide practice in power sector reforms), will now be transferred to the Minister by this Act. Such “political” approval of licenses for a commercial business, at a time when Sri Lanka embarks on the next phase of reforms by inviting private investments to transmission and distribution, will make the reforms meaningless.

With private ownership allowed into 100% of each generation and distribution entity, safeguards to prevent formation of monopolies are grossly inadequate.

Technical matters too, have not been addressed adequately. The grid and technical codes thereof have been defined to be “above 33 kV”, ignoring the need for a distribution code, in an era where distributed generation is growing and would eventually be the main supplier of generation. This not only brings an unregulated block of generation and power wheeling across distribution networks, without adequate technical safety and economic regulation. Serious control problems leading to brownouts or blackouts cannot be avoided.

IESL calls upon the government to seriously review these glaring shortcomings and amend the proposed Act to ensure the above and other serious deficiencies pointed out by our detailed report are rectified. Without revisions, this Act will further aggravate problems of governance, unreliability, and high costs, that have plagued the electricity sector for decades. The proposed Act, if implemented without these amendments, is designed to fail technically and economically, with excessive political interference at every turn.

“It may be useful for us to have energy transition legislation. One is we are going to a new sector. We are opening it up, not merely for power generation but for power distribution. We will have the private sector playing the lead role. So it is going to be private-sector-driven,” Wickremesinghe told an energy discussion held with the World Bank.

World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka, Faris H Hadad-Zervos, said it was important to enhance institutional capacity and regulatory frameworks for renewable energy procurement to attract private sector investments.

“The Government of Sri Lanka has embarked on ambitious power sector reforms to improve governance, efficiency, and financial sustainability. The World Bank Group, in collaboration with other partners, supports these reforms through policy advice, technical assistance, and financial products,” Hadad-Zervos was quoted as saying by the president’s media division.

Hadad-Zervos said there was a need for a comprehensive roadmap and clear procurement frameworks to attract private investments for renewable energy projects.

He called for joint action from stakeholders, including policymakers, development partners, and the private sector, to realize Sri Lanka’s ambitious energy goals.

Sri Lanka’s ambitious renewable energy targets include aiming for 70% renewable energy by 2030 and advancing carbon neutrality to 2040.

Private sector investments and innovations will be crucial in transforming Sri Lanka’s energy sector, generating employment, and enhancing energy security, Hadad-Zervos said.

“We have sufficient potential to emerge as a player in the field of renewable energy. Sri Lanka’s dry zone and its potential for wind power are such that we have identified this sector for rapid development,” Wickremesinghe said.

Sri Lanka has already begun on supporting legislation the president said.

The Electricity Reform Bill was approved by the Supreme Court with a number of amendments, and will be debated in Parliament soon.

An Economic Transformation Bill has already been tabled in Parliament. A Climate Change Act is being drafted.

“There is no other way in which we can achieve our targets by 2040 or, for that matter, 2050. The Ministry of Finance will also work with others. The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Power will work on a green finance policy. So the green finance policy will also drive us. These are the components that we will have for the transition into green hydrogen and using renewable energy,” Wickremesinghe said.

“There is significant potential for green hydrogen. But there are many more questions to be answered about green hydrogen today than earlier. We have to work on what the cost is and when it will be attractive for private-sector investments.”

India has already included the export of green hydrogen in its plans, with a fairly substantial amount of green hydrogen.

“What is the framework we have for the exploitation of renewable energy in Sri Lanka, and what will be the future trends of green hydrogen? About a month ago, PricewaterhouseCoopers put out its latest report on green hydrogen, which is very interesting.

“We have to call everyone in. We don’t have full expertise, I must admit. We need assistance from outside. So World Bank, ADB, and others who are interested, certainly come in. Because we are committed to a green economy and we want to go ahead.

“The rest of the details I leave it to you to tell the government what needs to be done.”

Sri Lanka faces several challenges in integrating renewable energy sources, including a financial crisis deterring high-level developers from investing in the country.

Local developers and some international partnerships have to bear significant risks, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told the forum.

“Discussions with development partners have focused on mitigating these risks through financial and technical tools,” Wijesekera said.

Infrastructure development is another significant hurdle, particularly in identified renewable energy zones in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

There was a “need for additional technical assistance in evaluating projects and determining appropriate pricing to attract the right investors with suitable technology and ensure competitive pricing for consumers.” (Colombo/May30/2024)

By May 26 afternoon, power has been restored to about 425,000 customers.

From May 21 to 26, 26,700 breakdowns have been fixed, the CEB said.

“CEB management and staff are working around the clock to restore power to all affected consumer,” a CEB statement said.

The CEB had received around 61,000 breakdown complaints and new ones still coming in.

Separately the CEB’s Engineers Union said unfilled vacancies and abolishing some maintenance engineering positions had led to delays in restoring power and could in the future also affect safety and customer service levels. (Colombo/May26/2024)

Despite electricity being declared an essential service, vacancies have not been filled, the CEB Engineers Union said.

“In this already challenging situation, the Acting General Manager of CEB issued a circular on May 21, 2024, abolishing several essential service positions, including the Maintenance Electrical Engineer in the Area Engineer Offices, Construction Units, and Distribution Maintenance Units,” the Union said.

“This decision, made without any scientific basis, significantly reduces our capacity to provide adequate services to the public during this emergency.

“On behalf of all the staff of CEB, we express our deep regret for the inconvenience caused to our valued customers.”

High winds had rains have brought down trees across power lines and transformers, the statement said.

In the past few day over 300,000 power outages have been reported nationwide, with some areas experiencing over 30,000 outages within an hour.

“Our limited technical staff at the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) are making extraordinary efforts to restore power as quickly as possible,” the union said.

“We deeply regret that due to the high volume of calls, there are times when we are unable to respond to all customer inquiries.

“We kindly ask consumers to support our restoration teams and to report any fallen live electrical wires or devices to the Electricity Board immediately without attempting to handle them.

The union said there were not enough workers to restore power quickly when such a large volume of breakdowns happens.

“We want to clarify that the additional groups mentioned by the minister have not yet been received by the CEB,” the union said.

“Despite the government’s designation of electricity as an essential service, neither the government, the minister in charge, nor the CEB board of directors have taken adequate steps to fill the relevant vacancies or retain current employees.

“We believe they should be held directly responsible for the delays in addressing the power outages due to the shortage of staff.”

Sri Lanka is expecting to connect large volumes solar and wind power between 2024-2030 to meet a 70 percent renewable electricity target, but due to variability of wind and solar (non-firm energy), the system stability is undermined.

As a result, the power grid has to be able to absorb the shocks from non-firm energy.

Battery energy systems storage (BESS) is one of the solutions identified in a long-term generation plan, the statement said.

A committee appointed to study the issue had recommended building battery banks.

The cabinet had approved the development of battery storage system as public private partnerships or private projects. (Colombo/May24/2025)

“Additional service staff has been assigned to attend the breakdowns and the CEB management & service staff are working 24 hours to restore power to the affected consumers,” Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera said on social media platform X (twitter).

Wijesekera said consumers could report power interruptions through the CEB hotline 1987, via SMS to 1987 with BD and the electricity consumer number to follow, or use the CEB Care app, or through http://cebcare.ceb.lk.

The South-East monsoon has seen floods, landslides and strong winds do damage to the utility provider’s infrastructure in the last week. (Colombo/May23?2024)

A technical evaluation of three companies which had submitted bids had been completed according to information coming to him, Hashim told parliament Wednesday.

“The financial bids were due to be opened on May 17 based on information we are receiving,” Hashim said.

“But due to pressure from certain officials we are learning that there is an attempt to cancel the financial bid. I am asking why the bid was not opened on May 17.

“We learn that the Sustainable Energy Authority Chairman and officials have engaged in a big operation to stop this. I do not know who these people are representing.”

“This is something that is required for the country. We believe the wind power unit could be purchased at a price below 6.0 cents t under competitive tender.

“This tender has been blocked to stop this. So, blocking this is big problem.”

Hashim said he was demanding an answer.

“I do not know whether some corrupt officials are connected to some companies and acting on behalf of these companies (kade yanawader danney ne). I am asking the chairman of the Committee on Public Finance, Harsha de Silva, to summon the officials and ask them to open the bids.”

Hashim said he had urged Sri Lanka authorities in parliament itself on earlier occasions not to agree on a power purchase price for a 484MW plant by India’s Adani group which came without tender until competitive bids for the smaller Mannar plant were opened.

Related Sri Lanka to buy wind power from Adani for 8.26 US cents

The energy ministry said Adani would be paid 8.26 cents per unit for its Mannar and Pooneryn plant project for 484 MegaWatts.

India’s Adani project has come as a government-to-government project, by passing tender, officials said.

CEB’s own plant in Mannar, built before an economic crisis with Asian Development Bank funds, was estimated to have a levelized cost of only 4.2 US cents over its lifetime.

But at commercial rates of borrowing, a profitable project could be run at around 6.0 US cents, according to industry analysts.

Mannar in particular is an area with high winds.

The CEB’s old wind farm with a shorter height has experienced an actual plant factor of 44 percent last year, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. (Colombo/May22/2024)

“The program will focus on attracting investments in the renewable energy sector, accelerating energy transition, green hydrogen programs & scaling up private investments,” Wijesekera said on social media platform X (twitter).

“Energy & Financial experts from development agencies, industry stakeholders & officials from the line ministries will be participating at the event.”

The roundtable will be held on May 29.

The preliminary discussion on the event was held with the World Bank team at the Ministry of Power and Energy, the minister said.

A forex crisis two years ago saw the island nation face fuel shortages and power cuts in the face of a lack of renewable energy sources.

The state-run power utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board, has said it hopes to increase renewable energy sources to 70 percent of its energy generation mix by 2030, and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

This will require the addition of considerable generating capacity from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind during the next 6 years. A large component of its present renewable energy sources is hydro – major and mini.
(Colombo/May20/2024)

Related story
Sri Lanka looks for $11.26 bln investment to achieve renewable energy targets – CEB GM

Sri Lanka has set ambitious goals for renewable electricity generation by 2030, apparently without much prior study or any costs being revealed when the target was set by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Rohan Pethiyagoda, a taxonomist and researcher who had also been senior state officials involved in policy at one time said overall Sri Lanka used a large volume of biomass (firewood) for cooking.

“We need to recognize, of course, that about 60 percent of Sri Lankan households still use firewood as their primary fuel,” Pethiyagoda told a climate forum organized by Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

“Bless them, because they reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for cooking. Even the tea industry, one of our largest exports, uses biomass as its primary fuel for about 90 percent of its production.”

In the electricity sector, where the renewable lobby and other activists oppose coal on the basis of carbon emissions based on international trends, as well as dust, base load still has to be generated if thermal generators are replaced.

Solar power is available only for a few hours in daytime and it can also vary depending on cloud cover.

Hydro power (run of the river plants) is more stable but is dependent on rain. Large hydros with storage can be used for peaks, industry analysts say.

Wind is available throughout the day but can also be unstable. The problem of variability (non-firm energy) can be solved to some extent through ramping and battery storage at additional cost, analysts say.

A renewable plant in Poonakary with battery storage was priced at around 48 to 49 rupees (about 15 US cents) based on public statements.

Meanwhile Pethiyagoda said Sri Lanka’s weather patterns created an additional problem.

“We have this unusual thing for our renewable energy in Sri Lanka, that at the tail end of the northeast monsoon, from about December to April, we have a dry period in this country, which means that our hydro potential during those months goes down,” Pethiyagoda said.

“Now, as luck would have it, our wind potential goes down at the same time.”

As a result, Sri Lanka needs a reliable alternative to the current coal baseload.

“So for that reason especially, we need to look at either connecting to India’s grid in the long term or having a nuclear facility in Sri Lanka if we want to be low carbon. And of course, we need to replace our vehicle fleet.”

“And our base load can probably come from nuclear,” Pethiyagoda said.

“But whichever way we do it, the cheaper way would be for us to connect to India’s grid.

“Whichever way we do it, we’re looking at an investment of about 40 billion dollars. And then we have the problem of looking at how wind and solar will behave.”

It was not clear what the 40 billion dollar investments would be made up of.

Sri Lanka’s external debt as at December 2024, including unpaid principal after default was 37.3 billion US dollars.

In 2021 when the 70 percent target was unveiled in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election manifesto power engineers said a 53 percent energy share planned for 2030 in a general plan at the time was was equal to that of Germany.

Pushing up the share to 70 percent would require billions of dollars of extra investments, they said.

Related

Sri Lanka generation plan renewable power share for 2030 equal to Germany: CEB engineers

After the central bank cut rates and triggered an external default however, Sri Lanka growth, and power demand in the next few years is expected to be lower than before extreme macro-economic policy.

Related Sri Lanka to invest US$11bn by 2030 to meet renewable target

In 2023, the CEB said about 11 billion US dollars would be needed to meet the 70 percent target. (Colombo/June19/2024)

The rupee also appreciated in the quarter which keeps imported fuel prices low.

As a standalone entity, the Ceylon Electricity Board, made profits of 84.6 billion rupees in the March quarter.

CEB’s revenues rose 38.5 percent to 167 billion rupees in the March 2024 quarter, while cost of sales fell 26.1 percent to 105.0 billion rupees giving gross profits of 62.7 billion rupees.

The CEB also reported 30.6 billion rupees of other incomes and gains in the March quarter, up from 3.1 billion rupees last year.

Other Income and Gains

The utility said it made a 25.9 billion rupee capital gain from transferring LTL Holdings shares to West Coast Power an IPP in which other entities have a majority holding.

In the quarter the rupee also appreciated.

A rupee appreciation will help reduce the carrying cost of dollar loans and also reduce the cost of imported thermal fuels and maintenance costs of spares.

The central bank allowed Sri Lanka’s exchange rate to appreciate from 324.40 rupees in December 2023 to 300.17 on March 2024 amid deflationary policy and weak private credit allowing imported fuel costs also to fall.

Especially after 1978, after rate cuts drove the country into balance of payments crises, the central bank had collected reserves with free market interest rates, but has not usually allowed the exchange rate to re-appreciate despite generating a BOP surplus with deflationary policy.

Un-anchored Bad Money

Before 1978, when an apparently doctrinally foxed International Monetary Fund abandoned both external and specie anchors simultaneously after the Fed closed its gold window triggering the Great Inflation period, Sri Lanka also did not depreciate its currency, analysts have pointed out.

Related Why the IMF is hated now and is backing bad money in Sri Lanka and Latin America

Since it was set up in 1951, the central bank has printed money under various dual anchor conflicting Saltwater-Cambridge ideologies (re-financing rural credit, sterilizing outflows, potential output targeting, yield curve targeting) to create forex shortages and currency crises and started to go the IMF from the mid-1960s.

From 1978, after the IMF’s second amendment to its Articles denied the central bank a credible external and domestic anchor simultaneously, the currency stated to depreciate steeply.

The government was therefore unable to balance its budget and state enterprises were also unable to balance their budgets running large losses whenever the rupee fell and energy prices went up.

After abandoning its external and specie anchor the central bank followed a anchor conflicting regime involving money supply targeting without a floating exchange rate in the 1980s.

The ideology was rejected in toto by Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and China.

Since the end of a civil war macro-economists have followed inflation targeting without a floating exchange combined with extreme macro-economic policy to target potential output, eventually driving the country into external default.

Budgets went haywire in the early 1980s as the rupee fell, despite then President JR Jayawardene cutting subsidies and ending price controls (administered prices) two years earlier, in reforms that Singapore’s economic architect and one-time Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee said were “economic reforms which most people had considered politically impossible.”

Goh who set up a currency board in Singapore rejecting Cambridge-Saltwater ideology, warned JR not to destroy the rupee.

“Exchange rate policies involve many complicated technical issues which I do want to discuss here,” he said.

“On balance, the disadvantage of a depreciating rupee will, I believe, outweigh the advantages. Most of the products whose prices are administered are ether wholly imported or contain a high import content. About a quarter of rice consumption is imported.

“All wheat from which four and bread are produced is imported. The same holds true of kerosene and milk powder.

“Bus fares ware largely determined by the rupee price of imported oil and spare parts. Fertilizers are also mostly imported.”

At the time Sri Lanka had hydro-electricity.

Capital Injections

Some of the CEB’s dollar loans were been taken over by the central government after the steepest currency collapse in the history of the central bank in 2022 and external default.

The CEB’s contributed capital as at end March 2024 was 991.4 billion rupees up from 865.1 billion rupees.

With the March quarter profits with some financial engineering involving the asset sale and the government equity injection, the CEB’s group accumulated losses reduced to 456 billion rupees from 575 billion rupees.

The CEB ran large losses as the regulator failed to raise tariffs as macro-economists printed money to target potential output over the past decade.

From 2011 to 2022 the rupee fell from 113 to 370 to the US dollars as the central bank ran un-anchored monetary policy the regulator only raised prices in 2022.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the last price cut was also made possible due to rupee appreciation.

With no potential output targeting (no inflationary open market operations), the country has started to recover from the stability that has been provided up to now amid weak private investment credit.

Sri Lanka’s private credit is now starting to recover.

Based on past trends of using statistics instead of classical economic principles (cutting current current interest rates with inflationary open market operations of a money monopoly based on historical inflation rates under ‘data driven monetary policy’ without regard to domestic credit) analysts have warned of a return to monetary instability under potential output targeting. (Colombo/May19/2024)

The sale has been carried out as a transfer.

“Twenty-eight percent (28-pct) of share ownership of CEB within LTL Holding’s equity capital has been transferred to West Coast Power Company Ltd for a total consideration of Rs 26 billion as part of a partial settlement of outstanding dues…” the March interim accounts said.

“This transaction resulted in a net gain of Rs25.9 billion rupees which has been recognized and reflected in the ‘Gain from Share Disposal’ in the individual financial statement in CEB.”

LTL Holdings is a former transformer making unit of the CEB set up with ABB where the foreign holding was sold to its management.

The firm has since set up several IPPs.

West Coast Power operates a 300MW combined cycle IPP in Kerawalapitiya promoted by LTL group liked firms in which both the Treasury and Employees Provident Fund also have shares.

Its operational and maintenance contract is with Lakdhanavi, another private IPP. The firm has been paying dividends.

The capital gain from the transfer of shares helped the CEB post profits to 84 billion rupees for the March 2024 quarter.

CEB reported gross profits of 62.7 billion rupees from energy sales and 30.6 billion rupees in other income and gains in the March 2024 quarter. Other income was only 3.1 billion rupees in last year. (Colombo/May18/2024)

Floating solar plants, depending on how much of the area it covers, can reduce sunlight and plant growth in waterbodies, reducing food for fish and other organisms.

“We urge the authorities to consider these risks and explore alternative locations or methods for the solar power project that would not compromise the health and livelihoods of the local communities,” Monlar Media, a civil society organization that promotes farmer rights said.

The coalition of organizations, including the Walawa Farmers Rights Protection Organization, said they do not oppose the development of solar power plants in principle, but they have grave concerns about the potential threats to their livelihoods posed by the construction of these plants on the two reservoirs.

Maintaining the water levels necessary for the floating solar power plants could jeopardize the water supply required for their crops. “This poses a significant risk to agricultural productivity and the local economy,” the farmers were quoted in a statement.

More than 75,000 hectares of cultivated land rely on these lakes for nourishment, and nearly 45,000 residents depend on the lakes for their drinking water. Another 400 individuals are engaged in the mining industry around these water bodies, they said.

They also raised environmental and health concerns warning that the materials used in constructing the solar power system could degrade over time due to sunlight exposure and leach into the lake water.

The two floating solar pilot projects are implemented with the financial and technical assistance of the Republic of Korea in partnership with the Ministry of Power and Energy, and The Sustainable Energy Authority.

The two projects, which are nearing completion, of 1MW each are constructed with a financial grant from The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology of Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and implemented with the technical assistance and construction by Yooshing Engineering (Pvt) Ltd, Bosung Powertec Co Ltd and Scotra Company Ltd.

The two projects commenced in 2023 and are scheduled to be competed by July 2024. (Colombo/May17/2024)

So-called ‘wheeling’ was not allowed in Sri Lanka and a company that built a power plant had to sell the power to the Ceylon Electricity Board at the feed in price and buy power separately at as a customer at a retail tariff.

Wheeling allows customer to carry the power from a new renewable plant by paying a fee to the transmission network.

“For example if a mini-hydro plant is built in Kithulgala, the power can be carried through the grid for the use of a factory is Ja-Ela as long it is also owned by the same party for his own use,” Minister Gunawardana said.

A committee was appointed to conduct a detailed study and the recommendation was made he said. (Colombo/May15/2024)

Sabry met Saudi Arabian Economy, Investment, and Foreign Ministers when he visited Riyadh last week to participate in the World Economic Forum.

“Saudi Arabia has agreed to invest in Sri Lanka. We expect a huge investment from Saudi Arabia. They are in the process of diversifying their oil-based economy. Accordingly, they are now investing in other countries,” Sabry told reporters at a media briefing in Colombo on Wednesday (08).

“We are in discussion with them for projects at least one or two big projects. We hope to finish negotiations by end of this year. When we get one or two projects, others from that country will follow,” he said.

“They are mainly interested in renewable energy, specially solar power, wind power, and green hydrogen,”

“We are in discussion with relevant institutions. They have a firm called ACWA Power. It is one of the largest investor in other countries.”

He said such renewable energy project will help to generate excess electricity once Sri Lanka connect the grid with India.

ACWA Power is a developer, investor, and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants, with 82 assets in operation, construction, or advanced development across 13 countries.

With an investment value of $85.7 billion, ACWA Power’s portfolio can generate 55.1 GW of power, the company website showed. (Colombo/May 08/2024)

The cabinet had approved the price after agreement was reached by a Cabinet Appointed Negotiations Committee.

Adani will be paid in rupees at the prevailing exchange rates, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera confirmed on his X (twitter) page.

“The negotiated tariff rate of USD 0.0826 per kWh, is to be paid in LKR on the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment.

“On the current exchange rate considered as, 1 USD = Rs 300, the cost of energy will be Rs 24.78 per kWh. The current average cost of energy in SL is Rs 39.02 per kWh.”

The contract will be valid for 20 years. The 484 MegaWatts of plants will be built in Mannar and Pooneryn.

Note: Edited to add Minister’s comment. (Colombo/May7/2024)

“Cost have actually come down from last year by around 20 per cent,” Accounts Manager of E B Creasy, Eksath De Silva said.

He was speaking at an event to announce the Construction Power and Energy Conference which will held from July 05 to 07 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, which the company is supporting.

Organizers are expecting over 170 exhibitors for the event and 14,000 visitors.

Demand for solar power is coming back as the Return on Investment is now higher.

“Returns are significantly good,” De Silva said. “There is a significant increase in demand and there is a significant increase in returns.”

Solar panel prices surged worldwide as the US Fed printed money, with shipping costs also rising.

The US Fed then hiked rates and also started to withdraw excess money, driving down global food, and oil prices. (Colombo/May07/2024)

The price of a 12.5 kilogram cylinder would be cut to 3,840 rupees from 4,115 rupees by 275 rupees.

The 5 kg cylinder would be cut by 110 rupees to 1,542 rupees from 1,652 rupees.

“Gas prices have come down in the globally, and the rupee has appreciated, so we were able to pass on this benefit to the consumers,” Pieris told reporters in comments broadcast over Sri Lanka’s Derana Television.

The firm cut prices deeper than state-run Litro Gas. (Colombo/May03/2024)

The price of a 12.5 kilogram cylinder would be cut to 3,940 rupees from 4,115 rupees by 175 rupees.

The 5 kg cylinder would be cut to 1,582 rupees from 1,652 rupees.

The 2.3 kg cylinder would be cut to 740 rupees from 772.

World LP gas prices have moved up and down in recent months, Pieris said.

“The rupee has appreciated somewhat also, but not as much as in the previous month,” Pieris said. “We have passed the benefit fully to customers. (Colombo/May03/2024)

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government reduced the price of widely used Octane 92 by three rupees to 368 and Lanka Auto diesel by 20 rupees to 333, the official data showed.

However, the government has raised the profit margin on Octane 92 and white diesel to 4 percent in its latest price revision.

An estimation with the reduced profit margin show the government could have further reduced the price of Octane 92 by at least 7 rupees and Lanka Auto diesel by another 2 rupees.

The profit margin for Octane 92 was reduced to 1.5 percent in the previous month revision for April prices while for Lanka Auto diesel, it was slashed to 3 percent.

D V Chanaka, the State Minister for Power and Energy last week said the fuel price formula was changed and instead of 4% fixed profit margin, the government allowed flexibility for fuel retailers to chose their profit margin from 0-4 percent.

He said the government reduced the profit margin to maintain the prices of Octane 92 and Lanka Auto diesel.

Private fuel retailers Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) and Sinopec also have followed the prices fixed by the government.

Maintaining stable fuel prices is considered as a gauge to measure a ruling government’s achievement and failure to maintain the prices at lower level had led to government change in the past.

Successive governments in Sri Lanka have mostly sold fuel at a subsidized price by absorbing the losses to petroleum companies due to fear of becoming unpopulour among the voters and losing elections.

The government’s move to reduce the profit margin last month and reduce the prices of fuel despite an increase in the profit margin come ahead of a presidential poll later this year in which President Wickremesinghe is expected to contest under an independent coalition. (Colombo/May 1/2024)

The move comes ahead of a presidential poll later this year in which President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to contest under an independent coalition.

Unprecedented fuel price hike in 2022 amid long queues due to shortage compelled nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna-led government to switch to fuel price formula which it cancelled in 2019 citing that government should have the control over fuel prices.

“We have changed the formula. Instead of 4% fixed profit margin, we have now allowed flexibility and fuel retailers can chose their profit margin from 0-4 percent,” Chanaka told reporters at a media briefing on Friday (26) in Colombo.

“Had we gone with the same formula, we should have increased the fuel prices this month. But we reduced the profit margin from 4% to 1% and maintained the prices at the same level.”

Sri Lanka maintained prices of widely used Octane 92 and white diesel at the same prices when it revised the prices last time on March 31.

Private fuel retailers Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) and Sinopec usually follow the prices fixed by the government.

Maintaining stable fuel prices is considered as a gauge to measure a ruling government’s achievement and failure to maintain the prices at lower level had led to government change in the past.

Successive governments in Sri Lanka have mostly sold fuel at a subsidized price by absorbing the losses to petroleum companies due to fear of becoming unpopulour among the voters and losing elections.

The move has led to losses in state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Company (CPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), (Colombo/April 27/2024)