News
Chinese bid for second LNG power plant to be disqualified for failure to submit bid bond
By Ifham Nizam
The submission of bids for the LNG Second Power Plant Sobedanavi at Kerawalapitiya, has been opened.
The 350 MW power plant to be run on LNG is to be a BOOT – Built Own Operate and Transfer- venture.
More than 15 companies bought bid documents called RFP – Request for Consultant Services Proposal – from various parts of the world, yet only two companies have submitted bids; CNC of China and Lakdanavi from Sri Lanka.
A senior Electrical Engineer told The Island that the Chinese company had not submitted the bid bond. The value of the bid bond was Rs. 600 million or USD 3 million.
“The Chinese company has stated at the bid opening that they submitted a bid without a bid bond as their head office had asked them not to give a bond to the CEB,” a senior official said.
The Chinese government too will not support their company to provide bid bonds to the value of USD three million.
“This could be due to the country’s bad economic situation or not having faith in the system, and, therefore, the Chinese bid has to be rejected,” the official said.
He also stressed that now the Sri Lankan company had to find foreign exchange to build the power plant to help the CEB to meet long term generation plans. The Island learns that the Asian Development Bank was likely to be one of the funding sources.
“This shows there is no trust to invest in the country’s power sector. Usually, IPP – International Power Purchasing – is a preferred business for the energy market,” he said.
While such is the situation, various elements are pushing for investment by New Fortress Energy, USA, which came forward with a backdoor offer to buy 40 percent shares of the Westcoast Power Plant Limited (WCPL) at USD 250 million.
WCPL owns Yugadhanavi HFO –Heavy Fuel Oil- power plant which is 12 years old and will have to hand over to CEB for one USD in 2035.
NFE has sought to supply LNG to WCPL and Sobedanavi as Part of the deal for five years at less than USD10 /MMBtu -Metric Million British Thermal Unit- including FSRU terminal charge. The CEB and the country will save nearly USD one billion over five years by operating above two power plants with LNG, it is claimed by its promoters.
The CEB was planning to have 5000 GWh from LNG based power which is nearly 1/3 of annual energy requirement.
If the 5000 GWh are to be generated from oil HFO and diesel then the country works have an additional cost of nearly Rs. 30 billion annually.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath will represent Sri Lanka at the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican City, the Ministry said.
The funeral is scheduled for today.
About 50,000 people came to pay their respects to the late Pope on Thursday, the Vatican news service said.
“Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, an ancient tradition of nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of the late Pope’s soul,” according to the Vatican news service.
“The Novemdiales Masses will be held each day at 5:00 PM (GMT +2) in St. Peter’s Basilica, except for the Mass on Divine Mercy on Sunday, April 27, which will take place at 10:30 AM in St. Peter’s Square.”
An underworld hitman who attempted to break into a house in the Andiambalama area of Katunayake to kill a businessman was arrested in Rajanganaya by the police and the Special Task Force (STF) on Thursday night after the attempt failed and he escaped by jumping over a wall.
Investigations have revealed that this individual is connected to a number of murders, including the recent killing of a businessman known as “Indikatu Jude” in the Seeduwa area a few weeks ago, as well as several other criminal activities.
Police said that the suspect was responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a man sleeping in a three-wheeler in the Gampaha area and attempting to assassinate another person at the Negombo market.
The suspect arrived in Andiambalama with another underworld assassin to murder a businessman engaged in money lending from his residence.
At the time of the incident, the businessman attempted to close his electric gate. The contract killer and his accomplice tried to shoot the businessman, but their weapon malfunctioned and did not fire. A struggle ensued between the businessman and the two assailants, after which the assailants tried to escape by jumping over the wall of the house as the would-be victim ran into the house.
During the escape, one of the suspects fell from the wall and fractured a bone in his leg. Local residents captured him after assaulting him and handed him over to the police.
The other contract killer managed to flee the scene but was later apprehended in the Rajanganaya area.Investigations are being carried out under the supervision of Negombo Division SSP Ashoka Dharmasena.
By Hemantha Randunu
The Committee of Inquiry investigating IGP T.M.W. Deshabandu Tennakoon over alleged gross abuse of power has formally requested the Acting IGP to nominate a police investigation team to assist its work. The request was made during the Committee’s second meeting, held yesterday (25 April) in the Parliamentary complex.
The Attorney General has appointed Additional Solicitor General (President’s Counsel) Dileepa Peiris, and Deputy Solicitor General Rajitha Perera, to support the Committee’s proceedings.
At the session, the Committee held initial discussions on how to proceed with the investigation and involve key stakeholders. It was agreed that the next meeting will be held on 28 April, 2025, to decide on the next steps.
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