Govt. scrapes USD 610 mn to pay for 2.2 MT of coal

By Ifham Nizam

The government had made arrangements to pay USD 610 million for 2.2 million MT of coal needed between September and April, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told senior engineers of the Ceylon Electricity Board.CEB Senior Engineers Association (CEBSEA) Spokesperson Engineer Nandika Pathirage told The Island he believes there would be a continuous supply of coal.

However, he said that out of the two non-functioning units of the coal fired power plant complex at Norochcholai one would be restored within five days and the other unit would take about 50 days to repair.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hasala Dharmawardena, Electric Power Distribution Planning and Analysis Engineer at Leidos, commenting on energy prices, told The Island: “I think energy prices are increasing. We will not have energy security unless we go for mass renewables. LNG is better than coal because the power plants are much cleaner, more flexible in operation, and can be built much faster. But it is just a stop gap. This is the option the USA is going for now. But the US produces natural gas. Also, it is going to be a tough pill, because all our fossil fuel choices are going to be expensive. Coal too comes with a lot of financial and geopolitical risks, future loans from global organizations will contain terms that will force us to stop operating coal plants”