Always breaking down! Always breaking down!

Frequently out of commission due to numerous technical faults, the Norochcholai coal power plant is not likely to be decommissioned despite allegations of sub standard parts and speculation about its future viability:

by Rukshana Rizwie

Courtesy: colombologistics

The Lakvijaya Power Station also known as the Norocholai Coal Power Plant was shut down on nearly 30 occasions since it was commissioned in 2011, Chairman, Ceylon Electricity Board Anura Senaka Wijayapala told the Sunday Observer.

"Most of the time the breakdowns were due to technical faults in the auxiliary equipment brought down from China," he said. "However we experienced these issues only in Phase I of the project, which as we all know was an accelerated program in 2011."

Ananda Nimalarathna, a retired Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) trade union convenor endorsed the fact that most of the time the breakdown was due to technical failure. Despite the absence of any assurance that it would not falter again, experts say the plant will not be decommissioned, since it is the only plant which can provide half of Sri Lanka's energy needs at present.

"The concept and functioning of a coal power plant is still new to everyone," he said stressing that the failure of the plant to get off the ground is quoted by populist politicians to score political brownie points. "No one talks about how many times the Victoria or Laxapana shuts down and never will."

"However, there is no way this plant would be decommissioned," a Ceylon Electricity Board(CEB) engineer who oversees the plant told the Sunday Observer. "The power plant provides 45% of the nation's energy requirements. In January this year alone, the plant added 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid,"he said.

Contribution

It is envisioned that the plant will produce 5,300 million watts this year to increase its contribution to the national grid to 50 percent.

According to the National Energy Sector Development plan released by the Ministry of Power and Energy, Sri Lanka's total energy requirement was around 11,125 Kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe) in 2013, and the primary energy supply mainly consisted of 4,814 (ktoe) of biomass, 4,582 ktoe of fossil fuels, and 1,442 ktoe of hydro. Today a kilotonne is equivalent to 99.93 tonnes of oil.

Meanwhile, the installed power generation capacity is approximately 4,050 MW, consisting of 900 MW of coal power, 1,335 MW of oil burning thermal power, 1,375 MW of hydro power and 442 MW of non-conventional renewable energy sources such as wind, mini hydro, biomass and solar power plants.

"To everyone who says that substandard equipment was brought to build this plant, we ask them to show CEB engineers who worked on this project credible evidence that this is really so" he said. "I was present when the documents for the project were reviewed and when the payments were discussed.

There were instances when we defaulted payments but in no uncertain terms did we intentionally bring down sub-standard equipment for this plant," he said.

When asked about the veracity of reports that equipment showed visible signs of corrosion, he said, "When construction began at the plant, signs of corrosion had already begun as far back as 2006. Stainless steel may not corrode in Colombo but it does, when half of it is immersed in water at the edge of a peninsula. It's not rocket science to understand that. We were expecting that but we also know that it can be repaired."

Nimalaratne, however said that there were concerns regarding the project being brought up by various politicians from time to time. "There was concern whether the Chinese who undertook this project deceived us," he said. "There were rumours of substandard machines being used at the plant, and low quality coal being imported for the project. While these rumours haven't been substantiated, persistent breakdowns only seem to give credibility to these claims."

Learning curve

Engineers who are presently working at the Norochcholai plant added that when the plant was first commissioned, they knew it would be a learning curve. "Nothing of this magnitude has been attempted before in the country and unlike wind or thermal power plants, a coal-powered plant falters often, we knew it would take us time to learn the process," an engineer said. He said the China Machinery Engineering Corporation which was contracted to build the plant assisted in times of crisis. Authoritative sources at the Ministry of Power and Energy told the Sunday Observer that despite announcements from higher authorities in the Ministry about the controversial plant, there is no evidence to prove that the plant was built below international standards.

Deputy Minister of Power and Energy, Ajith P. Perera, made damning revelations this past week citing that the plant had been built with substandard and outdated material. "At the time the technology of the brands agreed were outdated, and was not suitable for a plant in Sri Lanka, for which the government had agreed," he said.

He added that authorities were unable to file legal action demanding compensation since the agreement was signed during the previous regime.

Serious technical faults

The Minister said if a lightning strike could cause a plant to stall, the inference is that there are serious technical faults which may have been overlooked.

Last month, the Norochcholai power plant experienced a breakdown following a sudden islandwide power outage, disrupting power supply throughout the country.

The Norochcholai Power Plant according to its engineers takes three days to kick start once the entire plant shuts down.

This also made the CEB to request the public to use electricity sparingly until all plants were fully operational.