brand logo

Norochcholai Coal Power Plant: Delayed maintenance work and blackout risks

12 Jun 2022

  • Routine maintenance delayed due to lack of spare parts
  • Plant faces risk of simultaneous blackouts as overhauls overdue for years 
  • Overhauls of units 2 and 3 delayed by two years; unit 1 was due early 2022
  • CEB in need of $ 12 m and € 270,000 for spares, $ 9.1 m for service contract
  • Plant will be shut down for 75 days from 18 June, awaiting parts: CEB Spokesman
  • Coal power costs rising, $ 900 needed annually for coal supplies: Minister
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Plans to shut down one unit of the country’s only coal-fired power plant, the Lakvijaya Plant in Norochcholai, for an overdue routine maintenance next week remain uncertain as the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) struggles to import the necessary spare parts. The plant’s units are now at a risk of simultaneous shutdowns as they have been overdue for major overhauls for two years. Spare parts for routine maintenance are also now running out due to the foreign exchange shortage, it is learnt. According to information seen by The Sunday Morning, approximately $ 12 million and € 270,000 were needed for spare parts and $ 9.1 million for service contracts. Last month, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera told the media that the Government was trying to find the funds to import the spares, and if need be, they would be airlifted to Sri Lanka to expedite the process. The Lakvijaya Power Plant (LVPP), commonly known as the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, is the largest thermal power station in Sri Lanka. Construction of the facility began in May 2006, with the first unit adding 300 MW to the national grid on 22 March 2011. The $ 455 million first phase generates about 1.7 TWh of electricity annually, which is a significant addition to the energy portfolio of the country, when compared with the total electricity production of 11.5 TWh in 2011. Unit 2 and unit 3 of LVPP started commercial operations in April 2014 and October 2014 respectively, and each unit produces electricity using a steam turbine, capable of generating 300 MW/unit, aggregating to 900 MW of generation capacity by the three units. At present, the three-unit coal power complex provides about 40% of the country’s energy needs. According to CEB maintenance engineers who spoke to The Sunday Morning, the scheduled overhauls for units 2 and 3 have now been delayed by two years and unit 1 was scheduled to be overhauled at the beginning of this year. They stressed that the plant was running at a very serious risk and unless the scheduled overhauls were performed immediately for at least one or two units, the entire plant would have to shut down for overhaul next year. “When the routine overhauls are not performed, the entire plant can break down at once,” an engineer who wished to remain anonymous told The Sunday Morning.    It is learnt that there are 95 spare parts tenders and seven service contracts pending from original equipment manufacturers. “Some parts have to be specially manufactured,” the engineer stressed. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, CEB Additional General Manager (Generation) Andrew Nawamuni said the CEB was waiting for the necessary spare parts for the maintenance of the power plant. “The power plant will be shut down for 75 days from 18 June,” he added. As per CEB statistics, around 70% of the energy requirement of the country is currently provided by thermal power (coal and oil) and the rest by hydropower, with only a very small contribution generated by wind power.  Due to the lack of proper power plants, the country’s entire electricity system is dependent on the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant and in the event of a breakdown there, the situation will be dire, sources from the union said. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had instructed the CEB to halt the construction of an extension to the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant last year. In the President’s election manifesto, a 78-page document titled ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour,’ Rajapaksa had highlighted the importance of the renewable energy sector of the country, stating that by 2030 it was expected that the country’s renewable energy mix would comprise 40% of the total portfolio and also anticipated that hydro and renewable energy together would account for 80% of the overall energy mix by 2030. The President also signalled that Sri Lanka would not build coal-fired power plants any further at an international environmental convention, COP26, in Scotland last year. Nevertheless, the Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP) 2020-2039 of the CEB has highlighted the importance of extension of Lakvijaya coal complex in 2023 and 2024 with high efficient coal power plant development. According to the 2020-2039 LTGEP,  two 300 MW of high efficient coal power plants are expected to be commissioned in 2025 and 2028 at Foul Point in Trincomalee. The Sunday Morning learns that the CEB engineers are in favour of cheaper coal power, as they claim it is the cheapest base power the country can have at present – a claim some energy experts have disputed, pointing at rising coal prices. Senior Government ministers, past and present, including the Minister of Power and Energy, public officials with the utilities regulator PUCSL, and industry specialists have over the years red-flagged the CEB’s preference towards coal and diesel fuel power generation, an increasingly costly, inefficient, and unsustainable practice. Experts, politicians and public officials have over the years blamed ‘groups with vested interests’ of delaying or creating challenges for the renewable energy industry to contribute more in local power generation. However, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera informed Parliament last week that a unit of power generated in the coal power plant cost around Rs. 40 as the unit price of coal-generated electricity was also on the rise. He explained that the country required around $ 900 million to import the power plant’s coal requirement. This, in addition to nearly $ 100 million needed to supply fuel for uninterrupted power generation during low hydropower cycles. When contacted by The Sunday Morning on the availability of the spare parts, Power and Energy Ministry Secretary M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana said the required Letters of Credit (LCs) to import them should be opened and the parts would be received. Nevertheless, when asked about the required funds for the opening of LCs, the Secretary noted that he did not have exact figures, while asking The Sunday Morning to contact the CEB to get such information. However, attempts made by The Sunday Morning to contact CEB Chairman M.M.C. Ferdinando and CEB Media Spokesman Andrew Nawamuni regarding the funding of spare parts proved futile.   


More News..