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.
