The Hon. Kumara Jayakody - Minister of Energy

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I wish to respond to the publicity given to a claim that a recent coal shipment to the Lakvijaya Power Plant was substandard. The first shipment under the new supplier, Trident Chemphar Limited, consists of about 60,000 metric tons from South Africa’s RBCT terminal. At loading, quality certificates matched the specified parameters—most importantly Gross Calorific Value (GCV) of 5,900–6,150 kcal/kg and other criteria (moisture, ash, sulfur, volatile matter) per tender clauses 5 and 5.1—so unloading proceeded. Upon matching documents, a Letter of Acceptance allows payment of 80%. Due to some documentary deficiencies, this 80% has not yet been finalized.

¶ 02 Final payment is made after the discharge port quality certificate is issued by Cotecna Inspection India (Pvt) Ltd, selected by the CEB. This report should arrive within 10 days of completion of discharge, i.e., before mid-January.

¶ 03 Under the contract, if the discharge-port quality is lower than at the loading port (within the specified ranges), penalties are deducted before payment. If any parameter falls into the reject range listed under clause 5.2, then under clause 5.6 double penalties apply.

¶ 04 Preliminary in-house tests at the Lakvijaya lab showed GCV values such as 5689, 5739, 5760 and 5830, indicating results toward the lower end. However, our plant laboratory is not accredited for certification; only an accredited lab report designated in the contract is binding. Therefore, we will act strictly according to the accredited discharge-port report.

¶ 05 Additionally, there was previous stock ordered last year available through end-February. Using new stock before fully consuming old stock, and publicizing results without proper authorization, is not acceptable and is not acknowledged by the supplier. We will proceed strictly per the contract once the accredited report is received.