brand logo

40% Yugadanavi stake to New Fortress: Cabinet to discuss tomorrow

17 Jul 2021

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa   The matter of handing over the 40% share of the Yugadanavi Power Plant to a US-based power company would be taken up by the Cabinet on Monday (19), Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.   He told The Sunday Morning that the matter was not discussed at the previous meeting and was scheduled to be taken up at the upcoming meeting.   However, allegations have been levelled against the Government by the Opposition that cabinet approval had already been obtained last Monday (12) to hand over the 40% share held by the Treasury in Yugadanavi to US-based New Fortress Energy Inc. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last week alleged that the Treasury Secretary had signed an agreement for this purpose with the US-based company.  Meanwhile, it was also reported that New Fortress Energy Inc. has announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lakdhanavi Ltd., to jointly develop a 350 MW gas-fired power plant in the Kerawalapitiya Power Complex.   However, when contacted by The Sunday Morning, Lanka Transformers Ltd. (LTL), which has stakes in both the Yugadanavi and Lakdhanavi plants, said it had not transferred its shares in the two power plants, and the issue of the share transfer was with regard to the shares held by the Treasury.  Attempts to contact Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman, and the Treasury Secretary proved futile. New Fortress Energy Inc. recently announced that it has signed an MoU Lakdhanavi Ltd. (LTL), a private company in Sri Lanka, to jointly develop a 350 MW gas-fired power plant in the Kerawalapitiya Power Complex located in Colombo. On 8 July, New Fortress announced the signing of a Framework Agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka to build an offshore LNG receiving, storage, and regasification terminal located off the coast of Colombo, and rights to supply gas to the existing 300 MW Yugadanavi Power Plant. New Fortress will utilise this same LNG terminal to also supply natural gas to this new 350 MW power plant.  


More News..