18. Final approval

The Director-General shall upon receiving the documents and other information requested for, forthwith place before the Committee such documents and information together with the registered application and his recommendations, to be considered by the Committee for the purpose of granting the final approval for the proposed project.

It shall be the duty of the Committee not later than one month of the receipt of the documents and information sent by the Director-General under subsection (1), to make its decision on the same, by—

The Committee shall record its reasons for arriving at its decision under subsection (2) in the register maintained by the Director-General under subsection (3) of section 16.

A permit issued on approval of an application under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall be valid for a period of twenty years, provided that the developer commences the project and begins to generate electricity within two years of being issued with the permit.

At the end of the period of twenty years, the Board may at the request of the developer and in consultation with the Committee, extend the period, of validity of the permit by a further period, not exceeding twenty more years.