Norochcholai:A probe needed
Editorial-January 13, 2014,
The Lakvijaya coal-fired power plant at Norochcholai is apparently jinxed. Built amidst strong protests from priests and laymen alike, it is more dysfunctional than functional. It has broken down about 30 times since its inception in 2011.
Whenever the Norochcholai plant breaks down, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) opts for expensive diesel power generation which costs the pubic an arm and a leg. They have no alternative but to cough up more money to purchase power even when reservoirs are brimful and cheap hydro power generation increases sharply. Power sector experts have pointed out that Sri Lanka’s electricity prices are the highest in the region for large households and medium and large scale commercial ventures.
What has gone wrong with the Norochcholai plant? This is the billion dollar question that the CEB and the government have to answer. The three phases of the power station will cost the country USD 1.3 billion. Unless its problems are sorted out once and for all at this stage the investment therein is likely to go down the gurgler and we may be burdened with another white elephant. We already have an inland harbour without enough ships and an airport in the jungle without an adequate number of planes. It looks as if we were doomed to have a billion-dollar power plant producing no electricity!
The government tries to paper over the cracks and downplay the Norochcholai breakdowns, but problems won’t go away simply because it pretends that they don’t exist.
The CEB tells us that the Norochcholai condenser has developed a leak again. The plant was shut down for the same reason a few days ago and an expert had to be brought all the way from China to fix what was described as a boiler leak. The CEB gives various reasons for the Norochcholai breakdowns and promises an uninterrupted power supply to the national grid from the ailing plant. Its excuses and promises are of no use to the public who need power at reasonable prices.
The sorry state of affairs at Norochcholai has made Independent Power Producers (IPPs) happy; they could sell electricity to meet the shortfall at very exorbitant prices. Bureaucrats and politicians who wouldn’t scruple to cheat even their mothers if they could have dollars and pounds jingling in their deep pockets make a killing when the CEB purchases expensive thermal power. They are laughing all the way to the bank while the public are gnashing their teeth.
The CEB has ruled out sabotage as the cause of Norochcholai problems, but it defies comprehension why a newly-built power plant breaks down so frequently. In August 2012, no less a person than the then CEB Vice Chairman Anura Wijepala told this newspaper that the Chinese contractor responsible for building the Norochcholai plant had used substandard equipment and as a result some parts had already rusted. In an editorial comment on August 10, 2012, we argued that if his allegation was true, then the chances of generating 300 MW at Norochcholai—let alone producing 900 MW after the completion of its three phases—were remote.
Advisor to the National Movement of Electricity Consumers Bandula Chandrasekera has called for a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the Norochcholai power station, whose breakdowns cost the state coffers millions of rupees a day. One may not have much faith in committees consisting of legislators most of whom should be sent back to school, but there certainly is a pressing need for a high level investigation to find out what ails the coal giant and how to put it right.
