2026-02-20 / Adjournment Motion: Coal procurement for Lakvijaya Power Plant at Norochcholai (Part 2) 2026-02-20
## Summary
Leader of the Opposition Hon. Sajith Premadasa raised several concerns regarding the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), focusing primarily on allegations of coal procurement corruption and broken electoral promises on electricity tariffs. He highlighted that over 550 CEB employees who passed internal examinations have been denied promotions despite Department of Labour recommendations, citing a circular dated 25 August 2025 on recruitment freezes as the stated justification.
On tariffs, Premadasa accused the Government of contradicting its election pledges of a 33% tariff reduction by instead introducing new surcharges for public lighting maintenance and a 2.2% levy on all customer bills, none of which were disclosed during the presidential or general election campaigns. He also criticised the National Electricity Policy being opened for public consultation for only seven days, requesting a minimum period of 14–21 days.
On coal procurement, Premadasa presented technical data—unit generation figures and coal consumption rates per kWh—for eight recently delivered South African coal shipments, arguing that none of the three 300 MW Norochcholai units achieved their rated capacity and that coal consumption consistently exceeded the accepted standard of 0.37 kg/kWh, indicating substandard coal quality. He attributed this to a compromised tender process in which pre-qualification requirements were significantly reduced, and alleged Cabinet delays prevented timely procurement, and called for a transparent public investigation into what he characterised as "centrally orchestrated coal corruption," warning that the Opposition would mobilise electricity consumers if costs were passed on through tariff increases.
Madam, I regret that the Minister is absent to answer these matters.
This Government came to power saying it would protect the CEB and its employees. The person who said that is now chairing a provincial authority, while 23,000 CEB employees are left helpless. Over 550 employees who passed internal examinations and were selected have not received their promotions. Why are these promotions withheld based on a circular dated 25.08.2025 that says no new recruitments, when even the Department of Labour has recommended granting them? I table all relevant documents.
The Government also promised to reduce electricity tariffs by 33 per cent. The President said a Rs. 9,000 bill would be cut to Rs. 6,000 and a Rs. 3,000 bill to Rs. 2,000. Yet the Government has decided to impose an additional surcharge under a “public lighting and maintenance” charge. Moreover, it has decided to add a new 2.2 per cent to all customer bills for street and public lighting. None of this was told during the presidential or general elections. Why was it hidden?
Further, the National Electricity Policy has again been put out for public comment for just seven days. At minimum, 14 to 21 days should be given. I request the Minister to act accordingly.
On the coal debacle: annually Sri Lanka needs about 36 to 38 coal ships. Of those, 11 ships have arrived so far—Russian coal—with no quality issue. The problem is with South African coal procured under the new tender. We hear about 25 ships have been ordered under that tender. Coal can be unloaded from September to end-April when seas are calm, hence tenders are typically issued in April. This time, officials told the Sectoral Oversight Committee the Cabinet delayed decisions and did not execute the tender in time. They have also changed pre-qualification—reducing the experience requirement from a million tonnes over three years to a hundred thousand.
Whatever reports one cites—Load Port, Discharge Port, or Norochcholai operations—the truth is known from the boiler combustion report and real-time generation. Those cannot be faked; they are scientific outputs. Norochcholai has three units of 300 MW each. Over the past decade, on any day, any unit could reach 300 MW. But for the eight recent ships, on real-time boiler data and generation, the units did not reach 300 MW: roughly 285, 290, 260, 295, 285, 270, 275, and 255 MW. Not a single one at 300 MW.
On coal consumption per kWh: the accepted figure to generate one kWh at 300 MW is 0.37 kg. But for these eight ships it has been 0.40, 0.39, 0.43, 0.38, 0.40, 0.48, 0.40 and 0.44 kg/kWh—none meeting 0.37. These data conclusively show the eight ships carried lower-quality coal.
The consequence: more coal must be ordered to produce the same electricity, or diesel must be used—benefitting the diesel power mafia and raising tariffs. The Government has already proposed a tariff increase in April, and the statistics show another increase will follow.
To reach 300 MW per unit, GCV should be in the 5,900–6,150 kcal/kg range. The tender stipulates 6,150, yet there have been instances below that. In fact, GCV below 5,900 has arrived. I ask the Minister to state clearly whether any of these eight ships enabled generation at 300 MW per unit, and whether the kg/kWh stayed at the 0.37 standard.
I therefore call for a transparent, public investigation into this centrally orchestrated coal corruption. We will not allow these losses to be recovered from consumers. We will bring electricity consumers to the streets if needed to ensure the Minister and Government, not consumers, bear the loss.
Thank you.