The construction of Sri Lanka’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant with a capacity of 300 MW will commence at the Lakdanavi Power Plant premises in Kerawalapitiya at the end of this month.

The proposal made by Power and Energy Minister Dulles Alahapperuma, to construct the first LNG Power Plant in Sri Lanka has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry said in a media release.

Minister Alahapperuma said the construction work of the LNG power Plant will commence in late November, to coincide with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa completing one year in office.

Lanka Transformers Limited (LTL), where the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has a majority stake has received Cabinet approval for the construction of the new power plant at the Lakdanavi power plant premises.

 “The Power and Energy Ministry aims to empower the country with effective, environment friendly and cost-effective power generation in line with President’s vision of prosperity” the minister had said while announcing the decision to construct the LNG plant .

Power and Energy Minister Dullas Alahapperuma had further stated that the Ministry of Power and Energy is focusing on the construction of such power plants with the aim of achieving 70% of Sri Lanka’s electricity generation from clean and renewable energy by 2030.

The Minister had added that the objective of his Ministry is to provide energy to the national economy by providing low cost services to electricity consumers, the ministry statement said.

At present, about 35% of Sri Lanka’s national power generation comes from diesel power plants. The unit cost of production is as high as Rs. 30 and it is said that LNG power plants can reduce it to Rs.15.This will reduce the use of diesel power generation contribution to the national grid to 5% by 2025.