Work on Norochcholai power plant area nearing completion

by Lalin Fernandopulle

The preparation of the plant area to construct the 300mw Norochcholai coal power plant under the first stage is nearing completion, said Project Director Mechanical, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ravindra Lokubalasuriya.

He said the ground clearance and filling of land up to 3.4 metres above sea level will be completed by January. Piling work will commence early next year. Contractors have commenced offshore investigations which includes the building of a jetty with a 3.5 kilometre anchoring point for larger vessels. Building a jetty for small vessels is also being looked into", he said.

The agreement to construct the US$ 455 million coal power plant was signed between the CEB and the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Company in March last year.

Lokubalasuriya said the power plant will be built according to the national environmental regulations. Pollution will be minimised with strict adherence to regulations on discharge of waste material.

Protests against the setting up of the power plant are continuing. Accusations that the work on the power plant has come to a standstill is not true", he said.

The government has not decided from where it will import coal. Coal could be imported from Australia, South Africa or Indonesia.The prices, freight charges and the time to reach the location will be key factors to finalise the source.

Work on the coal power plant in Trincomalee will commence in January 2008. The project will be implemented jointly by the National Thermal Power Generation Company NTPC of India and the CEB.

The country's power generation capacity will increase by 300MW once the Trincomalee project is completed.

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