State-owned Lanka Coal Company has opened a major procurement tender for 2.28 million metric tonnes of coal to power the Lakvijaya thermal plant at Norochcholai, the company’s primary fuel source for base-load electricity generation.
The tender covers supplies from September 2026 to April 2027, with deliveries scheduled across 38 shipments — 20 in 2026 and 18 in 2027 — all to be completed within a 210-day window. The bid closing date is May 14, 2026.
The procurement is the standard annual cycle for the 900 MW Norochcholai plant, but it lands at a politically sensitive moment. Lanka Coal Company is still under scrutiny over its earlier emergency tender, awarded in March to India’s Taranjot Resources Ltd, which has been at the centre of the substandard-coal scandal that triggered power cuts and a no-confidence motion against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody.
Bidder qualification criteria, coal quality specifications and supplier performance benchmarks have been detailed in the tender document published on the company’s website. Officials have not commented publicly on whether quality standards have been tightened in response to the Trident Chefar contract dispute, which saw earlier shipments rejected over heating-value shortfalls.
The new tender effectively frames the government’s forward energy strategy: while Sri Lanka contends with fuel rationing and a Middle East-driven oil shock, Norochcholai remains the linchpin of base-load generation, and securing reliable coal supplies through the 2026–2027 monsoon and dry seasons is central to grid stability.
The April 10 parliamentary debate on the no-confidence motion is expected to feature this tender as a key reference point for both government and opposition arguments about the Energy Ministry’s procurement record.
