Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said that his problem is not the provision of 40 per cent of the Yugadanavi power plant but the monopoly of a gas supply to Sri Lanka by a US company for five years.
Gammanpila said that the Ministry had given two observations during the preparation of this agreement and hoped to give another observation, adding that he, as the Minister of Energy, would not sign any agreement that would be detrimental to the country.
The Minister said this addressing a media briefing yesterday.
He further said, “Gas supply from New Fortress Energy (NFE) will begin for five years from 2023.
That means they will supply gas until 2028. We hope that if the auction is held by the end of this year, gas production in our country could start in three years from there. If we take it from 2022 we can start gas production from 2025.
However, as the Minister of Energy, I see the supply of gas from our power plants to an American company until 2028 as an obstacle to attracting foreign investors to explore our gas deposits in Sri Lanka.” The Minister said that his ministry had informed the Cabinet in writing of the impact it will have on his Ministry on every occasion the matter was discussed.”
Also, our ministry has people who know about the subject of gas when a tender is in operation, but there were no representatives of our ministries in any of the committees that reached the agreements.”
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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