By Shirajiv Sirimane
The much awaited and one time highly controversial Norochchole power plant (first stage) would be opened on November 17, by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The first stage would generate 300 mega watts to the national grid and the investment for the total project would be Rs. 155 billion. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has decided to shoulder the financial burden of financing the project as CEB s now turning out to be a profit making venture. “We will start reimbursing this amount to the Treasury from 2015,” he said.
The delivery of the first shipment of 65,500 MT of coal at a cost of US$ 7 million from Indonesia is expected in the first week of November.
The country’s second coal fired power plant will be constructed at Sampur in the Trincomalee district early next year.