Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition
Sajith Premadasa questioned the Government’s renewable energy policy, arguing that successive reductions in the solar power tariff from Rs. 37 to Rs. 18 per unit discourage investment by small and medium renewable energy producers. He urged the Government to restore earlier tariff levels and support solar uptake in line with the 70 per cent renewable energy target for 2030. He also challenged the inclusion of LNG within that target, stating that LNG is not renewable and citing the Yugadanavi project as an example where, without an operational FSRU, generation effectively depends on diesel.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, I raised the question because the Government has set a target of 70% renewable energy by 2030. Yet the solar power tariff per unit was brought down from Rs. 37 to Rs. 27, then to Rs. 24, and now to Rs. 18. This discourages solar and other renewables, hurting small and medium investors and disincentivizing uptake. Please restore the earlier tariff levels rather than cutting them.
¶ 02 Further, the 70% renewable target appears to include LNG. LNG is not a renewable energy source. Though cleaner than coal in emissions, LNG still has environmental impacts. Projects such as Yugadanavi were branded LNG, yet without an operational FSRU, they effectively run on diesel. I urge focus on truly renewable energy, especially promoting solar without undermining existing investors through tariff cuts that destabilize their projects.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 22 October 2025 ·No. 22638 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 October 2025. No. 22638. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12384