The government of Sri Lanka plans to cancel a 500 MW coal-fired power project and plans to build instead an LNG power plant.
The coal-fired project was announced in 2006 and in 2011, state-owned power utility Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) signed an agreement with Indian state-owned thermal power plant operator national Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to develop on a jointly basis (50-50) a 500 MW coal-fired power project in the eastern port of Trincomalee. However, the project has been opposed ever since over land clearance and pollution concerns. An LNG-fired project may be easier to develop but would require the construction of an LNG import terminal, since Sri Lanka currently has no LNG infrastructure.
Sri Lanka has only one coal-fired power plant (900 MW), built thanks to a US$1.4bn loan from China, but with frequent repairs. The country is seeking to increase its power generation capacity after a recent severe blackout. Electricity consumption has been soaring since 2000, especially since the end of the civil war in 2009 (+5.6%/year over the 2009-2014 period).
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