Lakvijaya repairs to take a month

• Govt. increases hydropower generation to reduce power cuts despite tanks being only 50% full
• Comedy of errors as Ministry appoints academic to investigate breakdown but Prof. out of country till end December
• Govt. misses trick as auxiliary power plant initially eyed for Norochcholai sold to another company 
• PUCSL backs stronger regulatory measures, in the midst of introducing standards to rap CEB for future failures  

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Repair work at the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai will take at least a month before the facility is running at full capacity, officials said yesterday, while the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) called for better contingency plans and regulatory measures in the sector.  

To deal with a 99 MW shortfall in power supply the CEB has increased hydropower generation following negotiations with the Mahawali Authority to release water from the tanks. As a result power cuts, which were anticipated to be three-and-a-half hours per day until 21 October, will now be reduced to one-and-a-half hours.

Accordingly, power will be disrupted for an hour during the daytime and half an hour in the evenings. However, Colombo’s city limits and all industrial zones will be exempt from this measure, assured Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.  

Following the introduction of new regulations to monitor the performance of power generators, the PUCSL has instructed the CEB to enter into agreements with all their power plants to ensure that standards are maintained. 

“The agreements should specify pricing, commit to the availability of supply and adherence to regulations. The CEB is in the process of doing this now. In the future we will be able to take action against the CEB if incidents such as what happened on Sunday are repeated. However, right now we cannot take action against the CEB as we just introduced the standards,” PUCSL Director General Damitha Kumarasinghe told Daily FT. 

Kumarasinghe highlighted the importance of adhering to standards to avoid future disasters. 

“The tanks are still at 50% capacity, so there is a crisis here even now,” he said. 

The commission has launched its own investigation to uncover the causes of Sunday’s disaster.   

According to initial investigations conducted by the CEB, the tripping was caused as both power evacuation lines, the Chilaw-Colombo line and Anuradhapura line, had experienced sudden simultaneous breakdowns causing the three generators to trip, Siyambalapitiya said. 

Unlike earlier tripping incidents, the unusual vibration resulting from the tripping process caused a fire in Generator Three. A pipeline channelling steam from Generator One had also burst as a result. Although the CEB expressed confidence in fixing the pipeline by next week, the repair work of Generator Three would take at least a month, Power and Renewable Energy Deputy Minister Ajith Perera, who was also present at the news conference, said. 

A separate committee has been appointed by the CEB to uncover the causes behind the “unusual stoppage” that occurred at the Norochcholai plant, which will be headed by Professor Janaka Ekananayake. However, attempts by Daily FT to contact Prof. Ekanayake failed as he is currently overseas and will not return till the end of 2016.   

Although recommendations after previous incidents stressed on the need for an auxiliary power plant to supply power to Norochcholai plant to ensure stability, CEB had failed to find a solution. Previous plans of buying the 100 MW Heladanavi Power Plant in Puttalam also fell through, Power and Renewable Energy Ministry Director (Development), Sulakshana Jayawardena admitted, as it was bought by another entity.  

“When we tried to buy it, another buyer had already closed the deal, and the plant is already being dismantled. The new owners plan to take the plant out of the country, however we are trying to negotiate a sale with them,” he told Daily FT.