Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Friday, 18 December 2020 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Employees Union yesterday defended the regulator and said not only had it not caused delays in implementing power generation plans, but had worked to protect public interest and saved significant amounts of taxpayer funds by rejecting emergency power purchases.
Releasing a statement the union stated allegations made by certain parties that the PUCSL had delayed the implementation of power generation plans was a “baseless and completely false statement”.
The union pointed out that according to the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, the Commission was responsible for approving power generation plans and approving the calling for proposals to build power plants (Request for Proposals) and Power Purchasing Agreements.
“Accordingly, the Commission has given its fullest cooperation and approval to the CEB for implementing the Least Cost Long-Term Generation Plans (LCLTGP). The CEB has sought approval from the PUCSL for three major power plants with the capacity of 300 MW during the period 2016-2020 under the LCLTGP,” it said.
The Union also gave details of what steps the PUCSL had taken in connection to these projects. On the first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant of 300 MW it said the CEB submitted the request for proposal (RFP) for the approval of the Commission on 15 November 2016 and the approval was granted by the Commission on 17 November 2016, within two days.
“However, after a delay of four years of the bidding process, the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) has been referred to the Commission for approval on 9 October 2020. The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka gave the approval on 25 November 2020 at the first meeting that was convened after submitting the PPA.”
On the second 300 MW LNG power plant although the CEB Board of Directors had decided on 29 June 2017 to call for bids for the construction of the power plant, which has been delayed for more than three years and which was approved by the PUCSL under the Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan, the request for proposal (RFP) was submitted to the Commission on 18 September 2020.
“Accordingly, the Commission gave its approval within one month on 22 October 2020 and yet the CEB has not called for bids for the plant. In both cases mentioned in No. 1 and No. 2, the approvals were granted after the CEB agreed to incorporate the necessary amendments proposed by the Commission for the benefit of the country and the public.”
On the 300MW proposed extension of the Norochcholai coal power plant the Union said according to the long-term power generation plan 2018-2037 approved by the Commission, if a 300 MW coal power plant was to be completed by 31 December 2022, the approval of the Commission should be obtained by mid-2018.
“However, after a delay of two years, the relevant tender has been submitted on 4 September 2020 to award the construction of this power plant to one party in a non-competitive manner. In a letter dated 15 October 2020, the Commission requested the CEB to comply with the provisions of the Electricity Act and Procurement rules and to submit explanations/justifications in purchasing the power plant. The Ceylon Electricity Board has submitted a reply letter to the Commission on 27 October 2020. However, as the members of the Commission have not yet been appointed to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, it has not been possible to submit it to the Commission to take necessary action regarding the reply letter.”
The Commission has also supervised the implementation of generation plans without being limited to approving the generation plans and approving the request for proposals (RFPs) for the same plans. The Commission has informed the Cabinet, the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy in writing that there is a delay in the construction of power plants from 2016, the Union said.
“Based on these notifications, the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy has submitted a letter to the CEB on 15 June 2017 confirming that the reason for the delay in the construction of power plants was not a delay in approving the power plants but a delaying in calling tenders for power plants and a delay in the construction of those power plants.”
“We look forward to providing information on the amount of money saved for the public by the Commission due to the non-approval of emergency power purchases and about the emergency purchases requests that the Commission received,” the statement added.
