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| Sunday, 10 March 2002 |
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CEB grid to get 20 mega watt boost by SUREKHA GALAGODA The 20 mega watt power plant in Matara, owned by Aitken Spence and Co Ltd., will be connected to the main grid of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) by mid-March. Once connected, the plant would generate sufficient power to meet the domestic demand of half of the Colombo district, said former chairman of Aitken Spence and Co Ltd. Ratna Sivaratnam. The project was in the pipeline for five years, but the final approvals were given only last year. The second plant, approved to be built in Anuradhapura to generate 20 mega watts of power, faced problems due to political and environmental concerns and had to be shifted to Horana. He said that the entire process had to be recommenced at a heavy cost, both to the company and the government. "It is hoped that the final approvals will be given at the end of this month and development work will start shortly," said Sivaratnam. He said that according to the contract, power generation should begin in 11 months. The promoters of the two power projects, Ace Power Generation Matara and Ace Power Generation Anuradhapura, are owned by Aitken Spence and Co Ltd. (51 per cent), CDC Group PLC Ltd. (29 per cent), Wartsila Development and Financial Services (10 per cent) and Banaras House Ltd. (10 per cent). In 1996, Aitken Spence together with a Japanese investor bid for the two power projects, but since it faced a long delay, the Japanese investor pulled out through frustration. Subsequently, Aitken Spence partnered with Wartsila Group and Banaras House. In August 1999, the CEB issued the Letter of Intent while the power purchase agreements were signed a year later in August 2000. Initially the project in Matara was to be commissioned in 14 months from February 2001 while the Anuradhapura project was to become functional this January. Wartsila is a Finnish mechanical engineering group with global operations. Its main area of activity is designing and producing state-of-the-art diesel and gas engines. It is also a global supplier of dependable environmental friendly sound power solutions for both sea and land. It also has previous experience with Sri Lanka as it had provided equipment to Lakdhanavi. The Banaras House is a large buying house in the Indian subcontinent, engaged in international trading, retailing and exports of various Indian merchandise. It has successfully expanded into marketing of heavy fuel oil, diesel generating sets and power plants. |
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