Norochcholai power plant shut down due to coal shortage to be restarted next weekend

By Chaminda Silva

The generator of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant shut down last month would be reconnected to the grid from 07 January, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers said.

The generator was shut down in the guise of annual maintenance, but in reality it was due to coal shortages, engineers said.

With its restoration 270 Megawatts will be added to the national grid, they said.

“We have enough coal stocks for two generators till 08 January. We are getting a new coal shipment of 60,000 tonnes on 05 January. When we unload it, we will restart the generator that is now shutdown,” they said.

They said that the three generators at the plant needed 7,500 tonnes of coal per day to operate.

Thirty-three ships carrying coal would arrive in Sri Lanka by April 30 and stocks needed for Norochcholai Coal Power Plant (NCPP) would be provided continuously, Chairman/MD- Lanka Coal Company Shehan Sumanasekara told The Island.

“Three more ships are coming on 10, 14 and 16 January. We need 33 ships before the seas get too rough to unload coal. We are sure that all 33 ships will arrive before 20 April,” he said.

Given that it takes five days to unload a ship, it will take 165 days to unload 33 ships.