India and Sri Lanka are proposing a project estimated at USD 1.2 billion undersea transmission line linking the island nation’s power grid with India’s to establish energy security in the country, a Sri Lankan official said.
The suggestion is to connect Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s north-central town, and the capital of Tamil Nadu state in India Chennai, by a continuous power line. After a 130 km overland transmission line in India, an undersea line (via a submarine cable) will arise at Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar in northeast Sri Lanka.
Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy Sulakshana Jayawardena said This will elevate our confidence in energy security. He said this after the 5th assembly of the India-Sri Lanka joint working group (JWG) for cooperation in the power segment on February 28. The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha also joined the meeting.
The suggestion for the power grid interconnection was debated at this meeting, Jayawardena said. The 4th meeting of the JWG was in June 2019 in India.
The venture, to be carried out under grant support from the Government of India, will include 530 kw of wind power, 1,700 kw of solar power, 2,400 kWh of battery power, and a 2,500-kw diesel power structure for the three islands, which are not linked to Sri Lanka’s national grid.
The proposal to connect Sri Lanka with the Indian power grid was put forward more than a decade ago, but it has made little advancement till now. In 2023, Sri Lanka said it expected to install the transmission line in place within two to three years so that renewable power produced on the island/s can be traded to India.
After the February 28 meeting, Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, of India’s Ministry of Power, pointed out the benefits that Sri Lanka could gain in the power sector when integrated with India.
There would be significant cost reductions when Sri Lanka gains the capacity to export to India once the offshore wind in Sri Lanka is harnessed. (It will) also reassure private sector investment in Sri Lanka’s power sector, he said, according to a report from the Indian mission in Colombo.
However, there is no official contract in place as yet. Jayawardena told a local news station that previously there was an MoU contracted between the two countries to initiate a necessary technical assessment.
That is the only arrangement. However, it was proposed (at the meeting) that the scheme should be executed within an authorized framework, he informed.
Jayawardena said the project, which is anticipated to cost USD 1.2 billion, would necessitate the formation of a new establishment where Sri Lanka would have a 50% representation.
However, the suggestion needs further negotiations as Sri Lanka would need to source funding for it, he added.
The report from the Indian High Commission also noted that considerable advancement had been made on the Sampur Solar Power project, after the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India in July 2023, where an energy permit for a 50 MW power plant was approved to the instigating agency, Trincomalee Power Corporation Limited (TPCL).
The TPCL is a joint project between the Indian entity NTPC Ltd and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
The Indian side also arranged to provide technical support to CEB in areas to be recognized by the Sri Lankan side, it said.
After the March 1 treaty, local media reports have emphasized how the energy segment was acknowledged as a significant area in the India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership Vision document, which was accepted during the visit of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to India in July 2023.
Several landmark initiatives such as the power grid connectivity, and multi-product two-way oil pipeline are presently under discussion between the two countries in the energy sphere. India’s general development partnership portfolio stands at USD 5 billion with nearly USD 600 million being in grants alone.
