Always break down Lakvijaya coal power station at Norochcholai power plant has sustained another technical fault ten days after the completion of the repair work carried out by a Chinese firm at a massive cost of Rs. 690 million.
Technical error in 300 MW generator 1 of the coal power plant was reported in October 2019 and the repair work had been carried out for four months, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB ) sources said.
The breakdown has caused a loss of 270 MW to the national grid as the Norochcholai coal power plant fulfills 15% of Sri Lanka’s power supply.
Another breakdown was reported on February 14 following the repair work carried out by a Chinese company by charging the CEB a massive sum of US$3.8 million.
.According to CEB authorities, Sri Lanka’s largest power station, the Lakvijaya power plant (often referred to as the Norochcholai plant), has suffered over 25 breakdowns since it commenced power generation in 2011.
this does not bode well for a power plant that provides 900 megawatts of electricity for the country’s energy requirements ‒ especially when breakdowns are of a serious enough nature to cause island-wide blackouts, as witnessed in March 2019 and February this year.
The breakdown has caused a loss of 270 MW to the national grid as the Norochcholai coal power plant fulfills 78% of Sri Lanka’s power supply.
Water levels at several hydro power resevoirs such as Mousakelle, Castlereagh and Victoria have reported a drop of 40% in water levels, CEB sources said.
Therefore the country cannot depend on hydro power generation to avoid power cuts, a CEB official said.
.
(LI)