Chairman of the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises), Prof Charitha Herath, on Tuesday, said the entire country was affected by the Norochcholai Lakvijaya coal power plant complex and thus the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) had a pivotal role to play in the supervision of the power plant complex.

COPE studied the coal power plant complex and its environmental impact, during a meeting on Tuesday in Parliament.

The environmental assessment of the Norochcholai Lakvijaya Power Plant should not be left to the Environmental Authority of the North Western Provincial Council alone. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) must also be involved as issues created by the power plant, for example air pollution, had an impact on the entire country, the COPE Chairman said.

Prof. Herath added that given the Lakvijaya Power Plant had ambitious expansion plans; the Central Environmental Authority and the Provincial Environmental Authority should carry out those assessments jointly.

It was also revealed that the Ceylon Electricity Board had suffered a loss of Rs. 85 billion last year because no new power plants had been constructed since 2015 and the emergency power purchases at high prices.

These facts were revealed by the CEB officials summoned before the COPE on Tuesday to give evidence on a probe conducted on the Norochcholai Lakvijaya coal power plant complex and its environmental impact.

Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Nalaka Godahewa, Sarath Weerasekara, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, MPs Patali Champika Ranawaka, Eran Wickramaratne, Jagath Pushpakumara, Premanath C. Dolawatta, S. M. Marikkar, Nalin Bandara and Ranjan Ramanayake were also present at the meeting presided by COPE Chairman Prof. Herath.

Herath said that according to the long-term plan of the Lakvijaya coal power plant, a 300 megawatt plant was to be added to the complex by 2023 and further 300 megawatts by 2026.

CEB officials were asked by MP Patali Champika Ranawaka whether the Lakvijaya power complex could facilitate the increased capacity as stated. The officials said that they were still looking ar the issue and that the expansions would be carried out only if the relevant requirements could be met.

The committee also focused on the management of fly-ash collected at the plant. There are large piles of fly-ash in the yard, and Herath said that Rs. 26 million was spent each year to spray water on the fly-ash. The Chairman asked what the CEB was being done about the 6,580,000 tons of fly-ash stored in the premises. The officials said that they were trying to manufacture bricks using it.

The COPE noticed that the first of the three units operating at the Lakvijaya Power Plant did not operate at full capacity and that there had been several breakdowns.

Ranawaka said that immediate action needed to be taken as the Lakvijaya Power Plant contributed to most of the country’s electricity generation.

Streamlining of the cooling water disposal method at the complex, the impact of the ground water in the area, the quality of coal, and the capacity of unloading coal were also discussed at the COPE meeting.