January 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's power utility has signed up a new independent power supplier for the northern Jaffna area, and extended the contracts of two existing emergency suppliers, a senior government minister said. Sri Lanka based Cool Air has operated a 15 MW plant in Jaffna from 2002. Agrekko set up its 20MW plant in late 2003. The state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board has issued a letter of intent to Bounty Development Ltd, to Build, Operate and Own (BOO) a 25 MegaWatt power plant for 10 years, Information Minister Anura Pridharshana Yapa told journalists.
Bounty Development had initially quoted a price of 0.1713 US cents per kilowatt hour, which was the lowest responsive bid, but a negotiation team led by Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne had brought it down to 0.1650 US cents per kWh.
The Cabinet of Ministers has also approved the CEB to sign the power purchase agreement, and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to sign a fuel supply agreement for 10 years, Yapa said.
In December Cabinet nod has been given to extend existing emergency contracts with Agrekko and CoolAir for a further six months, Yapa said.
