• Unit 3 undergoing maintenance, pressed into emergency service

 The faulty Unit 2 of the coal-fired Lakvijaya Power Plant (LVPP) in Norochcholai was brought back online last week, injecting a much-needed 300 MW of power to a national grid starved of capacity due to rapidly eroding hydropower generation.

Unit 2 failed suddenly amidst a worsening power crisis earlier this month, once again raising concerns about the chequered service history of the controversial Norochcholai power plant. Unit 2’s failure came following the shutdown of another unit for planned maintenance.

According to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Unit 2 was taken offline on 8 August to investigate a leakage in a high-pressure tube of the third heater. After undergoing a comprehensive overhaul conducted by both Chinese experts (China Machinery Engineering Corporation – CMEC) and local technicians, Unit 2 was reconnected to the grid on 16 August.

Unit 2 coming back into operation comes as a relief, given that the water levels in all hydropower reservoirs have plummeted to a critical 27% capacity. Consequently, daily hydropower generation has been hovering at a modest 16-17%.

Unit 3 of the Norochcholai power plant had previously been temporarily suspended for a 100-day maintenance period, starting from 13 June.

However, Unit 3 had been in operation for approximately nine days during its major overhaul to meet the sudden shortage and has once again halted operations for mandatory maintenance,  The Sunday Morning reliably learns. The unexpected demand for Unit 3’s operation arose following the breakdown of Unit 2.

When contacted by The Sunday Morning, CEB Chairman Nalinda Illangakoon confirmed that the Norochcholai power plant was now operational, with Unit 3 undergoing routine maintenance. He further noted: “Unit 2 was reconnected to the grid on Wednesday and both Units 1 and 2 are currently operational.”

Collectively, both units generate up to 600 MW of electricity for the national grid. The Norochcholai coal power plant, which has three generation units and has seen multiple explained and unexplained breakdowns, generates 900 MW of electricity when all three units are functioning.