After October 20, the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant will have to face an acute shortage of coal, Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) said.
The union also claims that there is a possibility of the plant shutting down automatically due to lack of coal required for continuous operation.
The Engineers Union also states that if this power plant, which adds nearly 900 MegaWatts of electricity to the National Grid, stops, the country may have to undergo a 10 hour power cut daily.
“Generally, the South-West Monsoon is active from April to the beginning of October, so there is no possibility of coal unloading during this period due to rough seas,” the Union further states.
The Engineers’ Union added that the power plant is facing a severe shortage of coal due to the inability to carry out coal imports during this period.
“A typical plant requires about 960,000 metric tons of coal annually. However, it was decided to meet this coal requirement by 38 coal ships by last April before the commencement of the monsoon rains. Anyhow of those proposed shipments, only 24 ships have arrived in Sri Lanka due to the inability to issue letters of credit for the 14 shipments. It has not been possible to obtain this coal since last April due to the rough sea situation,” the CEBEU said.
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