Tuesday, 20 May 2014 00:00
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A NEW chapter opened in Sri Lanka’s coal power history when the second phase of the Norochcholai coal power plant was commissioned last week. Yet within days it broke down, adding to serious concerns over the plant’s viability.
The breakdown this time was reportedly caused by a leak in the boiler. The first breakdown in the second phase was during the testing period of the plant on 25 January. The breakdown comes after assurances from the Government including former Power Minister Champika Ranawaka the second phase had been extensively overhauled to ensure that it would outperform its lacklustre predecessor.
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials have warned the breakdown could result in even greater losses as the entity is forced to provide power by purchasing from private producers, with bills expected to run to many millions.
Built by China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation or CMEC, the project ran into hitches well before it was even opened. A large fire broke out on 24 October 2010. According to the CEB, there were no casualties but construction had to be sped up to meet the opening deadline.
On 22 July 2012, the power station ceased operations due to a leak in one of the thousands of tubes carrying water between the boilers. The country was put into controlled regional power outages to cope with the missing 300MW. On 8 August 2012, a tripping of the power line from Lakvijaya caused the power station to cease operations. The generation capacity of the power station exceeded its designed levels of 300MW on 29 January 2013, causing a complete shutdown. The plant was reactivated a day later. Power cuts were endured in 2012 when the plant tanked for weeks after being run beyond capacity.
The frequent breakdowns received so much attention that Opposition politicians had plenty of ammunition to hurl at the Government. After more than a dozen breakdowns, things deteriorated to the extent that the Chinese company offered to take ownership of the Norochcholai plant from the Government and write off the $ 360 million loan that was committed.
CEB engineers protested the move based on the logic that if the Chinese company was given control it would then have the authority to sell power at any cost it pleases to the Sri Lankan Government, resulting in the overburdened taxpayer having to literally pay the price. Unfortunately, the current situation is little better.
There has also been controversy over corrupt coal power purchases and incompetent energy policies that are moving towards coal power at a time when the rest of the world is gravitating into renewable energy. Yet the main criticism regarding the frequent breakdowns is that Chinese projects do not allow for adequate technology and expertise transfer.
Prominent economist Dr. Saman Kelegama during a recent presentation on Chinese-funded projects pointed out that skills transfer in Chinese projects is significantly lower than in projects done with other countries. For example, he highlighted collaborations done with India in the 1980s that gave Sri Lanka the legacy of buses and tyre manufacturing, which shows 80% or more of skills transfer. This is in direct contrast to the Norochcholai situation.
Glitches sparking so early in the second phase does not bode well for the sustainability of coal power in Sri Lanka and adds impact for a transparent investigation into the many and varied ills of the Norochcholai power project.
