By Ifham Nizam

A tender had been approved for the installation of 20 new solar power plants at 20 grid substations in various parts of the country, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.

Alahapperuma said the procurement of the solar power plants was carried out under five packages consisting of four grid substations per package. Procurement for these projects had been done in accordance with the international competitive bidding system, he said, adding that the Public Finance Department and the Cabinet had appointed a Negotiating Committee and five Technical Evaluation Committees to evaluate the bids.

The Pricing Committee, appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, had set the highest bid price for the purchase of a unit of electricity under procurement and approved the award of tenders to the lowest bidder for the project on the recommendations of the Technical Evaluation Committee, the Minister said.

Minister Alahapperuma thanked State Minister Duminda Dissanayake the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy Wasantha Perera and the Secretary to the Ministry of State Hemantha Samarakoon for their commitment to making the project a successful pilot project.

Minister Alahaperuma said that the biggest criticism was that the CEB did not like renewable energy. However, the project under discussion had proved the CEB’s critics wrong. Minister of State Duminda Dissanayake, present on the occasion requested the entrepreneurs to register with the Sustainable Energy Authority.