Government of China eventually attends to Sri Lanka's coal power plant issue

China has agreed to assist Sri Lanka to repair the country's first ever coal power plant which has been stuck with a wave of break downs since its inception.

Sri Lanka Minister of Power and Energy Pavithra Wanniarachchi had discussions with the officials of the Sri Lanka embassy of China on January 28 in regard of this. The discussion was held under the direction of the government of China. 

The diplomats of the Chinese embassy agreed to coordinate the suppliers of the machinery and components of the Chinese built coal power plant to have them tested the quality of the equipment. The officials also agreed to have the defects of the equipment identified and repaired by the supplier in case fault is identified, the Ministry of Power and Energy announced after the discussion.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy M.M.C. Ferdinando, Chairman of Ceylon Electricity Board W.B. Ganegala and other senior officials participated in the discussion.Yu Jiamu and Wang Yingqi participated in the discussion representing the Chinese embassy.

The first phase of the Norachcholai coal power plant, which cost US$ 555 million has already broken down a record 27 times since it was commissioned four years ago while a break down has been reported in the second phase also which is yet to be commissioned.

The Power and Energy Minister recently said in parliament that the plant failed 271 days out of the 1,086 days it was in operation.

The Lakvijaya coal power plant adds 300 megawatts to the national grid in the first phase and another 300 megawatts will be added in the soon to be operational second phase.

Coal goes ahead in Sri Lanka but the reality still unknown

(March 19, Colombo - Lanka Polity)  Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday inaugurated the second phase of the Norochcholai coal power plant.

Norochcholai, situated in North Western Province, provides vicinity to Sri Lanka’s first coal power plant. The 300 MW first phase of the project is now near completion.

The government repeatedly says that the rates of electricity tariffs will be slashed with the commencement of coal electricity generation. Hope that dream will be materialized. Sri Lanka is among the countries where the electricity rates are very high.

The cheapness of coal power electricity is challenged by environmentalists. They argue that the cost of the environmental and healthcare damages are not usually calculated when computing the price of a coal power unit.

By the time the proposal for the coal power plant in Norochcholai was moved, there was vehement protest from villagers, environmentalists and social activists. Following is an argument against this move that was published by BBC.

The construction of the three phases of the project costs US$ 1.35 billion, Ministry of Energy sources say.

300 MW plant will require 2640 MT of coal daily. A minimum of six months stock will be (2640 mt X 30 X 6 ) 475,200 MT. One meter high storage facility will require over 100 acres land or 2 m high facility require 50 acres. To suppress the coal dust due to heavy blowing using sprinklers to cover this facility will be practically an impossible task. Even if it is possible the requirement of water if taken from the ground water resource will starve the agricultural crops and even the drinking water wells will dry up in addition to seepage of seawater. Desalination of seawater for this purpose will add to the cost of production of power.

However, now the plant in Norochcholai will be upgraded to 900 MW under the second and third phases. The cost for the second phase is estimated US $ 891 million. China CMEC Company is the contractor of construction.

The first stage of the Norochcholai power plant was started in 2006. The construction of the third stage begins in 2012 and is to be finalized in 2013.

Clash between Chinese employees of the coal power project and villagers in Sri Lanka

(July 07, 2009) A Chinese national was injured and hospitalized following a clash with a group of villagers of Bingiriya area in the Northwestern Province of Sri Lanka on July 05.

The Chinese national is an employee of a concrete workshop belonged to the contractors of the Norochcholai coal power plant.

Reports from the area said that the Chinese employees tied a villager in the workplace and the villagers clashed with the employees after that. Four villagers were also injured.

Sri Lanka's first coal power plant is under construction in the Northwestern Province with credit facilities provided by the Export and Import Bank of China.