Colombo, December 12: In an open letter to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a number of academics have appealed for the cancellation of the Adani’s group’s wind power project in Mannar on environmental grounds.
They want the President to take up the matter with the government of India, when he goes to India on an official visit on December 15.
Here is the full text of the letter:
Your pre-election undertaking to cancel the proposed Adani wind power project in the Mannar Island
We wish to congratulate Your Excellency on being elected President of Sri Lanka and the clear mandate given to you by the citizens of Sri Lanka to combat corruption and advance good governance in the best interest of the country. We also wish to applaud your extremely impressive manifesto, which includes inter alia, an unequivocal undertaking that your government would protect and conserve the environment, ecology, and the fauna & flora of the country for the benefit of the citizens and our future generations.
In the above context, we were indeed elated when you publicly vowed to cancel the proposed ‘Adani’ wind power project to be established in the Mannar Island. In a pre-election political chat show, you made a categorical declaration that you will cancel the proposed ‘Adani’ Project, as you considered the transaction to be “corrupt” and threatened Sri Lanka’s energy sovereignty.
As civic minded citizens of Sri Lanka, we hail that undertaking given by you. The future generations of Sri Lanka will remain eternally grateful to you for your wisdom and forethought in making that unwavering commitment to prevent, what would prove to be irreparable and irreversible destruction and devastation to the National Economy, the National Environment and Ecology, and the very Livelihoods of the impoverished communities living in the North and North – Western region of the country, if the proposed Project is implemented.
Your choice of language in describing that the proposed Project would “threaten the energy sovereignty of Sri Lanka” demonstrates your keen and insightful intellect and your ability to accurately assess the consequences of such shortsighted and disastrous ventures. No doubt, you must also be cognizant that it will also create a threshold for Indian control of the North and North-Western territory and territorial seas of Sri Lanka, which will severely compromise the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.
Large numbers of citizens of Sri Lanka, including organizations and most importantly the rural communities living in the area, including the fishing communities have protested, pleaded and railed against the proposed wind power project during the former Government’s regime to no avail. The former Cabinet of Ministers have in complete disregard of the collective protests and objections of the local communities, and in complete disregard of the disastrous environmental impact thereof, have taken a decision to award the unsolicited tender to M/s Adani Green Energy Limited of India to build, own and operate the wind power project for no less than 20 to 25 years, notwithstanding the fact that the Central Environmental Authority has not approved the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) relating to the Project as required by law as yet. The indecent haste with which the former Government has pursued the proposed Project is fully reflected by the quick acquisition of private lands in the area for the proposed Project, even before the EIA was published, and in complete disregard of the objections of the people affected by the process.
When the singular minded objective of the former Government to pursue the project, at “whatever cost” was evident, a number of individuals and organizations filed several public interest litigations challenging the proposed Project in the Supreme Court pleading with the Court to stop the illegal project. The said cases are presently pending before the Court, and the court filings are now a matter of public record.
In the above circumstances, your promise to cancel the proposed project when elected remains a beacon of hope to the deeply concerned citizens of your country. Your Excellency, your citizens have elected you and given you the mandate to implement your manifesto. So, we respectfully ask you to honour that promise and not to proceed with the ‘Adani’ wind power project in Mannar.
We assure you that we are not in anyway opposed to renewable energy projects, such as wind power and solar farms, or engagement of foreign companies to develop such sources. In fact, we welcome Sri Lanka’s transition to renewable energy and support the sustainable energy initiatives for the country. The citizen’s concern however is the chosen location for the Project – the Mannar Island, which is an environmentally and ecologically highly sensitive location of global significance.
There is no plausible rationale (that would be in the best interest of Sri Lanka) as to why the environmentally fragile and vulnerable Mannar Island has been chosen, when there are other better suited locations for the implementation of a project of this nature. In fact, the EIA itself identifies three other locations – ‘Kalpitiya Peninsula’, ‘Ambewela Cattle Farm’ and the South East Coast as being more suitable locations for building and operation of a windfarm, over and above the Mannar Island (vide page 61 of the EIA). However, most shockingly notwithstanding that clear evaluation, which places the Mannar Island at the bottom position as most unsuitable, the EIA arbitrarily makes a completely opposite recommendation for the Mannar Island, without any factual or legal justification. Thus, the irresistible inference is that the Mannar Island has been selected notwithstanding the grave and irreparable damage it will cause to Sri Lanka, singularly due to its’ proximity to India, as opposed to the other more suitable locations. This factor alone reflects the mala fides and the fraud that is being perpetrated on the citizens of Sri Lanka, in collusion with members of the former Government and some bureaucrats.
We wish to place before you the following factors, which inter alia, warrant rejection of the unsolicited tender submitted by the M/s Adani Green Energy Limited of India to build, own and operate the wind power project in the Mannar Island;
1. The proposed Project will cause irreparable and irreversible environmental and ecological devastation. It will deprive the citizens of Sri Lanka and our future generations a globally renown national heritage –
(i) The implementation of the Project will deprive not only the Sri Lankan citizens, but the entire global humanity of critical bio diversity, as the Project site is positioned within one of the most important migratory bird corridors of a major global flyway, recognized by the United Nations Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) (to which Sri Lanka is a signatory), known as the ‘Central Asian Flyway (CAF)’. The Mannar island is one of the main entry and exit points for Sri Lanka to the ‘Central Asian Flyway’, through which over 15 million migratory birds of 250 species fly annually;
(ii) The Mannar Island and other islands on the Gulf of Mannar have been identified by both local and international scientists and experts as a Key Biodiversity Area, as well as a globally Critical Site for waterbirds. It is also the most important seabird breeding site in Sri Lanka, many of which are listed as globally critically endangered in the National Red List of Threatened Species of the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The region harbours more than 200,000 waterbirds during the migration season that spans from September to April, and 72,000 birds fly in a single day, which includes the rarest species of birds recorded in Sri Lanka as well globally;
(iii) The Project site is also encircled by three Protected Areas – the Adam’s Bridge Marine National Park, the Vidataltivu Nature Reserve, and the Vankalai Sanctuary (a RAMSAR site), which are protected sites that fall under the purview of the Department of Wildlife & Conservation (DWC), and all these nature reservations are of vital importance to the biodiversity of the country, and are protected sites under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. In addition, there are three reserved forests belonging to and protected by the Forest Department namely, Thirukeshwaran Mangrove Forest, Palakaimunai Reserved Forest and Wedithalativu Reserved Forest which harbour an extensive population of birds and other biodiversity;
(iv) The proposed Mannar Wind Power Project (Phase-II) will comprise staggering 52 wind turbines (140 meters in height with the diameter of the rotor blades extending to 160 meters), placed in parallel with the existing Thambapawani wind farm (Phase I), which comprise of 30 wind turbines. There is a further proposed extension, which will be established in Pooneryn (Phase III), comprising of a further 21 wind turbines, spreading across the entire width of the Mannar Island (about 5km), that is an area of 15,000 acres covering about 60 km2 area, which is about 40% of the total land mass of the Mannar Island. If all three phases are implemented, the Mannar Island will be completely covered with 103 wind turbines, spreading right across the entire width of the Mannar Island, which will irreversibly change the topography of the island and irreparably destroy the avians and other biodiversity thereof. These will undoubtedly be the beginning of the end of a highly valuable and sensitive terrain belonging to Sri Lanka, which is rich with biodiversity and the host to one of the key migratory bird passages of global significance, the ‘Central Asian Flyway’.
(v) Being fully aware of the above facts, which are in fact expressly recorded in the EIA itself, the relevant State agencies which are required to protect and conserve the environment of Sri Lanka have nevertheless acted in great and indecent haste to proceed with the proposed Project, fully empowered and supported by the former Cabinet of Ministers, in particular the former Minister of Power & Energy.
2. The threat to the energy sovereignty as well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka
(i) Documents filed in the court cases referred to above establish that the former Cabinet of Ministers have approved the award of the unsolicited tender to M/s Adani Green Energy Limited of India to build, own and operate two wind farms in Mannar (Phase II) and in Pooneryn (Phase III) over a period of 20 to 25 years. The EIA reports that once implemented, the Mannar wind power project will control “around 6%” of the annual energy requirement of the country (vide page 1 of the EIA). This would severely compromise the Energy Sovereignty of Sri Lanka as correctly observed by Your Excellency;
(ii) The said documents also show that ‘Adani Green Energy’ will also build a further 5 GW wind power plant in the northern region of Sri Lanka to generate electricity and export to India. In addition, there is a further intention to establish a “floating solar and wind facilities in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, bordering northern province”. This clearly establishes that the core objective of the proposed Project is to supply energy to India at the cost of Sri Lankan natural resources. Hence the insistence on the Mannar island, given the proximity to India;
(iii) There is further information that indicates that the Adani Group aims to create a monopoly in the Mannar North Wind Production in their favour, and their bid, planned capital investment and pricing are developed to support towards such intent being delivered. The Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has strongly objected to the approval of a project that affirms above objective and this stand has led to a conflict between PUCSL and the former Government. Your Excellency, will be in a position to gather information more fully from PUCSL.
(iv) If above is permitted, the country will be confronted with significant national security and Power/Energy Security risks of this exclusive monopolistic control establishing plan which can control all of Mannar and Northern wind power transmissions coming under the Control of Adani Group, to the detriment of the small 50 mHw wind project bidders already in the evaluation stage and any new entrant IPPs.
(i) It has also been reported further that the Adani Group has also submitted a proposal for “sea bed exploration in Sri Lankan waters” in the Mannar sea basin for valuable minerals in Sri Lanka’s Ocean bed.
(ii) In addition to the above, there is also a proposal to build a bridge connecting India to the Mannar Islands across the ‘Adams Bridge’ in addition an ‘Energy Highway’ between the two countries.
(iii) Thus, it cannot be overstated that the implementation of the above proposed projects, will place the North and North-Western territory of Sri Lanka and the adjacent territorial seas belonging to Sri Lanka, under the control of India, which will severely compromise not only the Energy Sovereignty of Sri Lanka, but most alarmingly the territorial integrity of the country.
3. Evidence of Corruption and the Negative Impact on the National Economy from the Project
(i) In the public statement referred to above, Your Excellency vowed to cancel the Project, inter alia, due to it being a “corrupt” deal. The following facts lead to the irresistible inference of corruption, namely the former Cabinet of Ministers have approved the purchase of the energy generated by the M/s Adani Green Energy Limited of India, utilizing the natural resources belonging to Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan territory, at the cost of USD cents 8.26 per kWh, whereas the purchase price for a kWh unit offered by local companies generated from much smaller wind power projects is half that price, while the EIA records the purchase price as USD cents 4.6 per kWh.
(ii) It is significant that even Adani Green Energy’s own records – the Application for Approval of an Investment dated 18.01.2022 submitted to the BOI – quoted the price as USD cents 6.50 per kWh, which is much lower than what the Cabinet of Ministers have approved.
(iii) A further comparison of unit costs incurred by other and far more economically stable states for the purchase of wind power fully reflects the excessive and exorbitant unit price that Sri Lanka will be bound to pay to Adani Green Energy over the next 20 years, which will further devastate the Sri Lankan economy. For example, it is reported that Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with a Japanese consortium to purchase wind power at the cost of USD cents 1.56558 per kWh unit, while a second agreement has been reached at the price of USD cents 1.70187 per kWh. A comparison of these global prices with the price offered by the Adani Green Energy to Sri Lanka, USD cents 8.26 leaves no room for doubt of the disingenuous nature of the Project and possible corruption involved.
(iv) The above facts must be considered in the context that the former Cabinet of Ministers have decided to award a tender with a contract value of USD 2,600 Million at the rate of USD cents 8.26 per kWh for 20 years to an Indian Company without any competitive bidding. And such cabinet decision has been taken in March of 2022, and kept concealed for over 2 years.
(v) The documentation filed by the different State agencies in the court cases clearly reflect the shockingly one-sided economic benefit to ‘Adani Green Energy’ from the proposed Project, at a severe disadvantage to Sri Lanka, and to call it a “foreign investment” would be a misnomer. A brief description of the proposed engagement is as follows;
• ‘Adani Green Energy’ will build, own and operate the Wind Farm in Mannar utilizing the natural resources belonging to Sri Lanka;
• ‘Adani Green Energy’ will build the Wind Farm utilizing Wind Turbines commercially produced by the company itself, imported to Sri Lanka and constructed on Sri Lankan soil;
• All imports, including the Wind Turbines and all other material required for building the Wind Farm will be exempt from applicable taxes that the Government of Sri Lanka could have charged, such as import duty, VAT etc.;
• The Government of Sri Lanka will be required to develop the Transmission Evacuation Infrastructure at its own cost, OR pay the ‘Adani Green Energy’ the cost of such development;
• ‘Adani Green Energy’ will operate the Wind Farm utilizing the natural resources belonging to Sri Lanka, namely the land mass in Mannar and the wind factors belonging to Sri Lanka;
• The Government of Sri Lanka will be required to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement to purchase the power from ‘Adani Green Energy’ for the electricity generated at the Mannar Wind Farm utilizing the natural resources belonging to Sri Lanka at a cost of USD Cents 8.26 per kWh over a minimum period of 20 years. In essence, Sri Lanka will purchase the wind power generated from Sri Lankan natural resources, from an Indian Conglomerate;
• The Government of Sri Lanka will be required to provide the ‘Adani Green Energy’ security for the above payments under the PPA, with an International Letter of Credit duly backed by a Sovereign Guarantee of the Govt. of Sri Lanka, which will entail further significant costs to Sri Lanka by way of banking commissions and charges;
• ‘Adani Green Energy’ will also export a part of the power generated by the Mannar Wind Farm or build additional power plants, in order to export the power so generated utilizing the natural resources of Sri Lanka to India;
• All purchases by ‘Adani Green Energy’ both in Sri Lanka and overseas for purposes of the Project and all imports will be exempted of import duty, VAT and other applicable taxes in Sri Lanka. In essence the Government of Sri Lanka will not generate any income for itself from ‘Adani Green Energy’ commercial activity in Sri Lanka;
• The earnings of ‘Adani Green Energy’ from the Wind Farm (a commercial venture in Sri Lanka utilizing Sri Lankan natural resources) will be fully exempt from Income Taxes;
• The ‘Adani Green Energy’ will be free to repatriate such tax-free earnings generated in Sri Lanka and paid for by the Government of Sri Lanka, back to India without any exchange control constrains or any tax deductions;
• Moreover, the proposed Project will cause severe environmental cost to Sri Lanka, which will be irreparable and irreversible and will constitute a loss of global proportions that will be suffered by generations of Sri Lankans to come.
(vi) It is significant to note that in a prior similar transaction relating to a power purchase agreement, ‘Adani Green Energy’ is reported to have acquired a similar disproportionate advantage over the government of Bangladesh. It is reported that Bangladesh is trapped in a similar long term disproportionate financial commitment to the ‘Adani Green Energy’ pursuant to a similar transaction.
(vii) In the above context, it would be pertinent to draw Your Excellency’s attention to the historical conduct of the Adani Green Energy Limited of India and the adverse and negative global reputation attached to the company, that renders it unsuitable to engage with by a credible government;
(a) Adani Group has been penalised Rs. 2.5 crore, for violating environmental rules at the Talabira 1 open-cast coal mine in the East Indian state of Odisha. The penalty was issued by the Eastern Zone bench of National Green Tribunal, which is India’s premier court on environmental issues, in an order issued on 8 December 2021;
(b) The Guardian Australia, by way of its news article dated 15th May 2021, titled “Adani admits breaching environmental conditions for Carmichael coalmine” reported that Adani Group has admitted breaching environmental conditions for Carmichael coalmine again, whilst clearing an area surrounded by potential koala habitat, without a promised wildlife safeguard;
(c) Most significantly, the Adani Group is reported to have pleaded guilty to the offence of providing false or misleading documents to the Queensland Government of Australia to cover up its land clearing activities and environmental damage and has been convicted of the offence of providing false or misleading documents to the Department of Environment and Science of Australia by the Brisbane Magistrate’s Court and sentenced accordingly;
(d) According to Adani watch, and the preliminary edition of the “Dossier on the Adani Group’s environmental and social record”, published in September 2020, Adani Group has a questionable record on human rights violations and causing severe damage to environment;
(e) The U.S. investment research firm Hindenburg Research LLC published its research report on the ‘Adani Group’ in January of 2023, reporting that the Indian Conglomerate Adani Group “has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.” Soon after the said Report was released, it is further reported that the ‘Adani Group’ companies experienced an acute decline in their share prices. In a follow-up report, the Briths daily newspaper, ‘The Guardian’ noted that Hindenburg had called on the ‘Adani Group’ to sue if they believed the report was inaccurate. By the end of February 2023, the Adani Group had lost significantly in share value as a result of the said publication.
(viii) The proposed project will also negatively impact the foreign exchange that can be generated from eco-tourism. Mannar is one of the best locations in South Asia to observe migratory bird species. The Mannar Island would be one of the most profitable long-term investments if this area can be preserved for ecotourism as a way of increasing country’s income. Annually, Mannar hosts approximately 25,000 overnight visitors and 500,000 day visitors (per the Mannar District Tourism Development Plan, 2021), with 50-60% of them comprising birders and bird enthusiasts. Constructing a wind farm that can lead to the loss of breeding, feeding and refueling grounds of these birds is a lost opportunity for the local economy.
4. The proposed Project will severely impact the livelihoods of the impoverished communities living in the area
(i) The proposed Project will lead to far-reaching consequences on the communities living in the area and their socioeconomic conditions at large. They have carried out numerous protests and campaigns requesting the Sri Lankan authorities not to pay obeisance to foreign powers for whatever reason at the cost of their livelihoods and quality of life.
(ii) As per the EIA, there are 46 communities (villages) in the area, which will be affected by the proposed Project. The socio-economic activities of the communities will be severely affected in varied manner. In particularly the impact on fishing, which is one of the major economic activities in the Mannar Island will be severely affected. However, despite members of the fishing community in the area handing over a petition with 1,000 signatures to the Mannar District Secretariat, claiming that they did not want this project to be installed in their area, the Project proceeds in complete disregard to their pleas. .
(iii) The fishing community has made evidence based submission that vibrations from wind turbines installed by the coast removes the fish harvests towards deep sea away from the coast. In their experience five-tractor-loads of fish were caught during the season, whereas they are unable to catch at least one tractor load after the commencement of the Thambapawani Wind Farm project (Phase I). The fishermen have further shared their experience and concerns that those who engaged in fishing near the coastal stretch within two kilometers prior to the commencement of the Thambapawani Wind Farm Project have to now go more nautical miles, almost 16-18 kilometers in the sea to engage in fishing as there were no fish banks near the coastal waters, posing further risks and fear of being arrested by the Indian Coast Guard for entering Indian territorial waters. Thus, is appears that the Project will further severely impact the livelihoods of an already impoverished community.
In conclusion, we most respectfully request Your Excellency to honour your pre-election undertaking to cancel the proposed Adani wind power project to be built in the Mannar Island.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Sgd./- Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne
Chandra Jayaratne
Name Position Signature
Prof. Sriyani Wickramasinghe Snr Professor
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
Prof. W A D Mahaulpatha Snr Professor
University of Sri Jayawardanapura
Dr. Nilmini Jayasena Senior Lecturer,
Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences
University of Peradeniya
Dr. Devanmini Halwathura Senior Lecturer & Climate Specialist
Department of Zoology & Environment Sciences
University of Colombo
Ms. Gayomini Panagoda PhD candidate – Bird Migration Ecology, University of Colombo &
Secretary, Mannar Bird Club (MBC)
Mrs. Darnie Rajapaksa Chartered Architect
University of Moratuwa
Ms. Aruni Ranmali Malalasekera Chartered Architect AIA (SL)
Prof. K. M. G. Gihan Jayasuriya Professor in Botany
Faculty of Science,
University of Peradeniya
Mr. Samantha Gunasekara A retired Government Officer Former Deputy Director – Sri Lanka Customs
END
