Team News Riveting
Colombo, December 2
China has decided to suspend the project of constructing Hybrid Energy Systems by Sino Soar Hybrid Technology, in three northern islands that are located close to Tamil Nadu coast in India.
The Chinese Embassy in Colombo tweeted that the suspension was due to a “security concern” from a third party, and has inked a contract with the Maldivian Government on 29th November to establish solar power plants in 12 islands in the Maldives. The Chinese company has won the contract in February this year to set up hybrid wind and solar energy projects on three Sri Lankan islands off the northern Jaffna peninsula 45 km from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.
India has then lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka on the award of tender to the Chinese company for the construction of renewable energy power plants on the Delft, Nagadeepa and Analthivu islands.
The contract was part of the Supporting Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project, which is implemented by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Delft, the largest of the three islands, is the closest to Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, which lies to the island’s south west. Between the two is Kachchativu, the tiny island that India ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974. The project site’s proximity to the Indian coastline.
Chinese presence in the vicinity is not welcomed especially when India already has many unresolved issues with China.
