Govt. trying to restore 165 MW Kelanitissa combined cycle power plant, which broke down last Oct.

By Ifham Nizam

The government will act fast to repair the much needed 165MW from the Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Plant and connect it to the national grid, Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma has assured.

Following his visit to the Plant, on Tuesday evening, Alahapperuma instructed engineers and technical experts to restore its power generation within the next few weeks.

The Minister also stressed that he would request the Indian government to expedite the shipment of necessary parts.

The Kelanitissa Power plant has been out of order since October 2019.

Engineers too expressed confidence that Plant could be restored within the next few weeks.

The Island

learns that parts of the plant were sent to India for repairs last year.

The plant was stopped due to a mechanical fault, and the machines have not been repaired. The delay in repairs was mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Kelanitissa Plant has a 20-year power purchase agreement with the CEB and a 20-year fuel supply agreement with Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) until 2023.

The Sojitz Kelanitissa Power Station (also known as Sojitz Power Station, and AES Kelanitissa Power Station), is a privately-owned 172 MW diesel-fired combined cycle power station. It is owned by Sojitz Kelanitissa Private Limited, a subsidiary of Sojitz Corporation.The power station is located adjacent to the Kelanitissa Power Station, which is a separate government-owned power station.

The power station consists of two generation units, a GEPG9171E gas turbine with a nameplate capacity of 115 MW, and a 57 MW steam turbine manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. The construction was done by Larsen & Toubro.

Power generated by the power station are sold to the Ceylon Electricity Board under a 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement. The low-sulphur diesel is supplied through an existing pipeline by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, with 20,000 tons, or the equivalent of 28-days of full capacity operations, stored in case of any fuel shortage. The plant’s 20-year contract ends on October 10, 2023.

The economic analysis for the project was conducted in accordance with Asian Development Bank (ADB) guidelines.  

This analysis covers the period from the start of construction in 2001 with the commissioning date of 2003 and up to the end of the concession in 2023. All values are adjusted to reflect 2003 prices, since 2003 is the year of the commercial operation date.

Forecast data from 2011 to 2023 were adjusted to real terms using the 2.40% United States inflation forecast utilized in the 2011 financial model.