Sri Lanka power plant shut down after coal fire

Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) - A 300 MegaWatt power plant in Sri Lanka was shut down following a fire at a coal crushing plant but is expected to be re-connected to the grid by noon, an official said. A power ministry spokesman said there was no disruption to supply as it happened in the early hours of the morning and the energy utility had spare capacity.

The Chinese built plant in Sri Lanka's Northwest coast in the island's first coal power plant.

The plant has been damaged by fire in its initial testing phase.

The official said the plant suffered no damage and was closed as a safety measure after overheating coal in a crushing plant caught fire.

The 300MW plant supplying base load round the clock and is important for the night peak, which now exceed 2,000 MW.

But the utility has spare capacity during day time, the spokesman said.