One of three units at Norochcholai power plant suffers breakdown

One of the three units of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, which generates 270 megawatts of electricity, has suffered a breakdown early this morning (Aug 08).

Meanwhile, Unit 3 of the power plant has remained inoperative since June 13 for scheduled major overhaul maintenance work.

As a result, only one unit of the power plant is operating at the moment and it adds 300 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

Meanwhile, Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, earlier today, said the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has assured an uninterrupted supply of electricity island-wide.

Taking to Twitter, the lawmaker emphasized that the CEB has no plans for scheduled power cuts.

Wijesekera said the CEB would procure the necessary supplementary power needed to maintain 22-hour uninterrupted supply of power.

The minister’s remarks came as a clarification after he told the parliament this morning that electricity needs to be purchased in order to ensure an uninterrupted supply from August 15 onwards as the operations at Samanalawewa hydroelectric power plant stand to be interrupted by August 16 owing to the move to release water from the water body to the Udawalawe reservoir.

He stated that several areas including Matara, Galle, Ratnapura and Hambantota are likely to experience three-hour power cuts in the event the request for electricity purchase is not approved.

Irrigation authorities commenced releasing water from the Samanalawewa reservoir to the Udawalawe reservoir for agricultural purposes in the early hours of the day.

The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday (Aug 07) had green-lighted Wijesekera’s proposal to release the maximum amount of water from Samanalawewa reservoir to Udawalawe reservoir required for agricultural purposes.

According to State Minister of Power & Energy D.V. Chanaka, water is being released at a rate of 3.5 million cubic meters per day for three days.