China’s SINOSOAR- Hybrid Technology had not withdrawn from the execution of northern power projects as reported by certain Sri Lankan and Indian media outlets, Project Manager, Paul Cao said yesterday.

He said that SINOSOAR was the pre-winning bidder for the three islands mini-grid project in northern Sri Lanka.

“In the last couple of days, we noticed some misrepresented reports in some local media, claiming that our company took the initiative to suspend the project. This misinformation is against the truth and has violated the legitimate rights and interests of our company and affected the progress of the project. At present, the project is still under review process, and the progress of the project is unfortunately slow due to the interference of some third-party factors as far as we learned,” he said.

He added that the project concept was to uplift the lifestyle of the 35,710 rural households living in Delft, Analativu, Nainativu outer islands by promoting renewable energy. This was a loan proposal submitted to Asian Development Bank (ADB) by the previous Government of Sri Lanka in September 2015 and the main content of the project was to build a wind-photovoltaic-energy storage hybrid power generation system to replace the original Diesel generator power supply, strengthen the improvement of electricity conditions for residents on the islands, make full use of renewable energy to reduce the cost of fuel power generation, and provide green, continuous and stable power, he said.

“During the implementation of the Contract, the local Construction Management and Project Implementation will be subcontracted to Sri Lankan companies. There would be no Chinese laborers dispatched from China. In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, this project will create more local employment opportunities for Sri Lanka. SINOSOAR as the EPC Contractor and the specialist in the mini-grid field, will be the key guarantee to the project success. Main facilities of the plant are supplied from China and the majority of construction materials will be procured locally in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Cao said that the project was funded by the Asian Development Bank which in full accordance with the international bidding procedures, and every step was open and transparent.

“Our company will strictly abide by the laws and regulations of Sri Lanka and the relevant requirements of the Asian Development Bank and Ceylon Electricity Board. At the same time, we firmly oppose any unwarranted interference by any third parties without legal and factual basis. Our company hopes that GOSL will strictly follow the international bidding procedures to implement the project, and protect the legitimate rights of the contractor, as well as its own seriousness and international reputation,” he said.