The Trincomalee energy hub is a strategic concept and scheme to transform the port city of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, into a regional energy and industrial center. Its origin lies in the historic Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm (TOTF), a facility of 99 tanks built by the British in the 1930s for Second World War operations. The modern push began with a bilateral agreement between India and Sri Lanka in 2022 for the joint development of the TOTF. The current, broader scheme is formalized by a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in April 2025 between India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Energy, and the UAE's Ministry of Investment. The primary problem it solves is enhancing Sri Lanka's energy security and positioning the region as a key logistics hub in the Indian Ocean.
The mechanism centers on the TOTF, which the Sri Lankan government decided to lease for 50 years. The tanks are split: 24 to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), 14 to the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC), and 61 to Trinco Petroleum Terminal Limited. LIOC holds a 49% stake in Trinco Petroleum Terminal Limited, with CPC retaining 51%. The scheme also includes the proposed construction of a multi-product pipeline from Nagapattinam, India, to Trincomalee, and the development of the Sampur Solar Power Plant (50 MW) by Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between India's NTPC Limited and Sri Lanka's Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). This initiative connects to India's Neighbourhood First policy and the MAHASAGAR initiative, and is viewed as a strategic move to counter China's growing influence in the region. The most significant recent change is the shift from the earlier bilateral focus to the trilateral MoU with the UAE in 2025, which revived and upgraded the long-standing lease arrangement for the TOTF.