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Power generation: Another Norochcholai unit to go offline 

03 Jul 2022

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Another 300 MW generation unit at the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai is scheduled to be shut down for a major overhaul, following the completion of the ongoing maintenance of a similar unit, The Sunday Morning learns. According to Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman N.S. Ilangakoon, the ongoing maintenance activities of unit 2 are scheduled to be completed within the next two months and soon after it resumes operations, unit 3 is scheduled to be shut down for its planned maintenance. The planned maintenance of unit 3 will see the national grid once again being deprived of nearly 300 MW of power for more than two months, forcing the CEB to resort to fuel-fired and hydropower generation to plug the gap in supply as needed. Despite the scheduled maintenance of unit 3, The Sunday Morning learns that the necessary spares for unit 2 and 3 had not yet been received, but CEB Chairman Ilangakoon was confident that the maintenance work would continue without any hindrance. It is learnt that the country is struggling to source around $ 10 million to bring down the spares, while the payments that should be made to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) for maintenance work have also been accumulating for the past several years.    Ilangakoon said the experts who had arrived from China to conduct the maintenance work on unit 2 would then work on unit 3. “Unit 3 will also take 75 days and if everything goes well, unit 2 will be completed within the stipulated time period,” he added. Unit 2 of Lakvijaya Power Plant (LVPP) was shut down for a scheduled major overhaul on 18 June. It was synchronised to the national grid on 24 January 2014. Up until 31 May 2022, unit 2 operated for 61,972 hours and produced 16,088 GWh. After consuming auxiliary power, it has provided 14,512 GWh to the country. Every year this single machine contributes about 10-15% of the country’s demand. According to the CEB, a Level A category overhaul of a 300 MW coal-fired steam power plant should be performed after four to six years of operation, as per the manufacturer’s recommendation. Unit 2 commenced operation in January 2014 and completed its first Level B overhaul in August 2018 and has been in operation for more than eight years from the first date of synchronisation.  


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