Kelanitissa Power Plant’s 18-month breakdown incurs Rs. 25 bn loss
Sri Lanka’s electricity shortage has become increasingly severe with declining hydro-power output owing to a prevailing drought combined with an over 18-month break-down at the 154 MW Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Plant causing a massive loss of over Rs.25 billion to the state.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is still grappling to repair the power generator since 2019 due to a mechanical fault which occurred when hurriedly installing some necessary spare parts imported from India, official sources revealed.
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Workers’ Union Secretary Ranjan Jayalal said that the government has incurred a loss of over Rs.25 billion due to the delay in the restoration of the power generator which was shut down for repairs in August 2019.
The Turbine Rotor which was planned to be sent to India for repairs had been finally sent to Dubai and thereafter it was brought to India for the completion of repairs, he disclosed. After bringing it down to Sri Lanka, CEB authorities have taken action hurriedly to install the Rotor without checking its equilibrium. He revealed that this shoddy work has caused some damage to the power generator.
This power plant generates 1084 Gigawatt hours of electricity annually and the total demand of electricity per annum is over 36,000 Gigawatt hours.
The CEB has been compelled to purchase power from the private sector power plants paying a sum of Rs. 35 per unit to meet the loss of power due to the unavailability of the 154 MW Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Plant, a senior CEB official said.
Kelanitissa power plant is used to produce electricity at a cost of Rs. 18-20 per unit and the CEB has to bear an additional cost of over Rs.15 per unit under the present set up, he added.
The government will act fast to repair the much needed 165MW from the Power Plant and connect it to the national grid, Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma revealed.
He instructed engineers and technical experts to restore its power generation within the next few weeks.
Measures will be taken to convert the Kelanitissa plant to a natural gas turbine plant with two similar plants to be set up in Kerawalapitiya and Hambantota before 2023.
Under renewed plans to increase power generation and tackle severe power shortages, CEB plans to convert three power plants with more than 600 MW of combined capacity to natural gas, and develop a further 1000 MW of new gas-fired plants, he disclosed.