Hon. Kumara Jayakody

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, renewables include both wind and solar. We are progressing on solar as well, but there are issues such as unnecessary land allocations and other complications we must resolve. We will necessarily go for competitive procurement; apart from genuine G2G, we will not accept unsolicited proposals. Issues must be cleared first; this has taken about three months already. We will proceed expeditiously, especially on solar.

¶ 02 Regarding Mannar, resource potential for wind is about 400 MW per studies. The CEB already operates a 103 MW wind plant, and a further 50 MW project is scheduled via the CEB. That leaves roughly 250 MW, which had been earmarked for Adani. However, there are court cases; the next date is in May, preventing progress for them or us until resolved.

¶ 03 Further, a 234 MW wind project at Pooneryn was also given to Adani through an MoU. We are now required to resolve what the previous Government did. We have informed their local company to clarify promptly; otherwise, we will move to the next price-competitive tenders to commence projects quickly.