Multi fuel combined cycle power plant in Kerawalapitiya:

Mega project heralds Lanka to economic victory

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

The Multi-fuel Combined Cycle Power Plant at Kerawalapitiya will meet the target of providing electricity to all households by 2012, said a top official of the Ministry of Power and Energy.

He said over 80 percent of the households in the country have been supplied electricity through mega power projects that have been implemented under a long-term infrastructure development plan.

The second and final phase of the 300mw power plant was commissioned under the auspices of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday.

The power project will provide an additional 100mw of power to the national grid. The first stage of the project was completed in December 2008 augmenting the national grid by 200MW.

The objective of launching the combined cycle power plant was to avert a major power crisis in 2008 which would have severely hampered prospects for development following the victory achieved last year.

The total cost of the project is US$ 300 million funded by local sources-ETF, LECO and Lakdanavi Ltd. and 152 million Euros lent by foreign institutions.

"With the completion of the Upper Kotmale and Norochcholai power plants around 1350MW of power will be added to the national grid", sources said. "The completion of the mega power project with the expertise of local engineers is a victory for the country in its journey to achieve economic prosperity", he said.

The duel combined cycle power plant set up in the marshy land adjacent to the Hamilton Canal was completed within a record two years and the project will generate 1800 units of electricity a year.