Unit 1 of Norochcholai power plant to be restored by next week

Unit 1 of the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai, which remains inoperative since last week, will be reconnected to the national grid by next week, the Ceylon Electricity Board says.

CEB’s media spokesperson Andrew Nawamani said the repairs of the generator are expected to be completed by next Monday (Aug 29).

On August 15, Power & Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera announced a breakdown in Unit 1 of the Norochcholai power plant. The national grid lost 270 megawatts of electricity as a result.

Owing to the malfunction, the duration of daily power interruptions was also extended to three hours.

After Unit 1 is back in operation, 300 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid.

Meanwhile, due to the essential maintenance work of Unit 2, the national grid also lost another 270 megawatts of electricity. Accordingly, only Unit 3 is operative at the moment.