India has not too long ago moved to take efficient management over the large oil tank farm in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. This marks is a key step in integrating Sri Lanka into India’s nationwide power system, with vital strategic penalties for Sri Lanka and doubtlessly additionally for area.

The big oil tank farm at Trincomalee in japanese Sri Lanka has recurrently fascinated many strategic analysts. Trincomalee is likely one of the most interesting pure harbours on the planet and lengthy been touted as a possible naval base that would doubtlessly dominate the northeast Indian Ocean.

The tank farm of round 100 large oil tanks was constructed within the Nineteen Thirties to maintain the British fleet within the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Royal Navy stayed on after Sri Lanka’s independence, however was kicked out in 1957 within the wake of Britain’s disastrous Suez intervention. It left behind a big fashionable naval base and the tank farm with a complete capability of round 1.2 million tonnes of oil, related with one another and with the port by a community of underground community of pipes.

Most of the tanks have since lain unused for 70 years or extra, a lot of them hidden by the encroaching jungle. One tank was misplaced to a Japanese Kamikaze dive bomber in 1942, however the remainder stay kind of serviceable. Although lined in a thick layer of rust, their building with high-grade metal signifies that they will now be refurbished and put again to make use of.

India has lengthy eyed Trincomalee port its tank farm, wanting to maintain adversaries out and use it for its personal strategic functions. Indeed, Trincomalee’s location on the east coast of Sri Lanka makes it an incredible location to dominate the Bay of Bengal and far of the northeast Indian Ocean.

In 1987, within the lead as much as India’s intervention within the Sri Lankan civil battle, Delhi secured a secret agreement that the tank farm could be collectively developed with India and couldn’t be utilized by every other nation.

Around 20 years in the past, the state-owned Indian Oil Company took over a small variety of tanks. In the lead as much as the Sri Lankan financial disaster in 2022, India prolonged its management over the tank farm. Indian Oil was given a 50-year lease over 14 tanks. An extra 61 tanks got to a brand new firm collectively owned by Indian Oil (49%) and Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Petroleum. India was additionally given an effective veto over the event of the remaining tanks.

The potential privatisation of Ceylon Petroleum to repay Sri Lanka’s large international money owed may create additional alternatives to purchase up the tank farm.

Indian Oil is now contemplating the way it will use the tank farm. One choice includes creating Trincomalee port as a regional “bunkering hub” to provide gas for business vessels busy sea lanes close by – a big step in creating Trinco as a serious regional port.

The most formidable proposal would contain connecting the tank farm with to a proposed new oil refinery at Nagapattinum, India, via an undersea pipeline that would carry some 3.5 million tonnes every year of oil or petroleum between India and Sri Lanka.

This pipeline would have important penalties for Sri Lanka. It would considerably improve Sri Lanka’s power safety, however may additionally doubtlessly cement Indian domination over Sri Lanka’s hydrocarbon sector. That may very well be offset by China’s plans to build a new $4.5 billion refinery on the Chinese-controlled port at Hambantota within the nation’s south.

There is the choice to make the pipeline connecting India with the tank farm to be bi-directional, which means that merchandise may movement in both route. This would have appreciable strategic implications, doubtlessly turning the tank farm right into a strategic hydrocarbon reserve for India and even the area, which may very well be used to assist clean oil worth shocks – or revenue from them.

All these power interconnection initiatives have the potential to boost power safety of India and its neighbours.

The transition to renewable power can also be prone to additional improve power interdependence between Sri Lanka and its big neighbour. Indeed, Sri Lanka is ready to develop into a serious producer and exporter of renewable power to India.

The Sri Lanka authorities has set a aim to have 70% of its electrical energy generated by renewable power sources by 2030. In December 2023, Australia’s United Solar Group was given approval for a US$1.7 billion 700MW solar plant, together with 1500 MWh of storage. Floating photo voltaic panels will probably be put in on a dam in northern Sri Lanka, minimising its impression on farmland. The authorities not too long ago additionally adopted an offshore wind roadmap, which identifies the shallow waters within the nation’s north as a big focus for future improvement.

These initiatives can assist drive home improvement within the face of a faltering energy system, however may also be a serious export earner. In March 2024, the Sri Lankan authorities introduced plans for a US$1.2 billion bidirectional undersea electricity cable that may hyperlink proposed new renewable power initiatives in northern Sri Lanka. with the Indian metropolis of Chennai.

Similar power interconnectors are being developed between India and different neighbours. In 2023, India and Bangladesh introduced a a million tonne every year diesel pipeline  in addition to power transmission corridor. In February 2024, India signed a 25-year settlement to purchase energy from Nepalese hydro era initiatives.

All these power interconnection initiatives have the potential to boost power safety of India and its neighbours and extra typically underwrite larger financial interdependence between India and Sri Lanka and different South Asian neighbours. That has the potential to melt anxieties about India held by many individuals in Sri Lanka. Or it could simply stoke additional fears of domination.