Norochcholai Power Plant: One coal-fired unit to be shut down?

Disruptions to Sri Lanka’s coal shipping schedule may result in a four-day power generation gap at the Norochcholai Power Plant, with moves to shut down one coal-fired unit at the plant, The Sunday Morning learns.

This, as the State-owned utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), scrambles to implement stopgap measures.

It is learnt that the next scheduled shipment carrying 60,000 MT of coal from South Africa may be delayed by up to a week or more due to an interruption in coal loading at the coal terminal in the Indian Ocean port of Richards Bay.

The shipment was scheduled to arrive in the country on 28 November, but according to CEB sources, may now be delayed until 6 January 2023. The vessel in question was the sixth shipment in the lineup for this season.

It is reliably understood that the existing coal stock stood at 146,133 MT as of yesterday (17) and will only be sufficient till 2 January 2023, thereby risking the loss of 19 GWh of energy per day being generated by the Norochcholai plant until the next shipment is unloaded.

Usually, it takes around five days to unload 60,000 MT of coal.

As of Friday (16), the thermal coal contribution to the national grid was 50.6% of the total requirement.

“If we don’t have coal, the Norochcholai Power Plant will come to a standstill, which means that the country will plunge into a severe power crisis, with around 8-12 hours of daily power cuts until stocks are received,” a senior engineer attached to the CEB told The Sunday Morning, emphasising the gravity of the situation.

The senior engineer stressed that by this time last year, around 19 shipments had been unloaded. However, this year only five shipments had been unloaded to date, he pointed out.

In this backdrop, it is learnt that the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has instructed the CEB to shut down one generator at Norochcholai until coal stocks are replenished to adequate levels.

Meanwhile, when contacted by The Sunday Morning, CEB Chairman Nalinda Ilangakoon admitted that there had been a delay in receiving the next shipment due to unavoidable circumstances at the loading point in South Africa.

Therefore, he said that in order to mitigate the issue and maintain sufficient coal stocks until the next shipment arrived, the CEB had decided to shut down one coal generator at the Lakvijaya plant.

When asked whether there would be power cuts due to the shortage arising out of the shipment delay, Ilangakoon said that he had already instructed the West Coast Combined Power Plant (WCCPP), which operates on furnace oil, to fill the gap which would arise from the shutting down of one generator at Norochcholai.

“We have already taken steps to manage the situation and in the meantime, once the shipment arrives, steps will be taken to unload coal expeditiously,” he added.