Sri Lanka to buy 200MW of private power

Nov 09, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will shortly call for the supply of 200MegaWatts of private power to bridge an energy deficit until a coal plant comes on stream, officials said. Energy Minister John Seneviratne told LBO that the cabinet of ministers had given the nod to call for proposals from existing independent power producers (IPPs) to supply the capacity this week.

The state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is hoping that by expanding capacity at existing sites it would be able to buy power at a slightly lower rate than from greenfield projects.

Seneviratne says the CEB is looking for the cheapest suppliers who are expected to use furnace oil burning plants.

By July-August 2008 a 200MW gas turbine stage of a 300MW combined cycle plant in Kerawalapitiya, just north of Colombo, is scheduled to come on stream.

Its 100MW steam stage is expected to be connected a year later.

However uncertainty remains over when a Chinese funded coal plant in Puttalam would be completed, though it is hoped that it would be finished by 2011 or 2012.

A 150MW hydro plant in Upper Kotmale in the hill country is also expected to completed around that time.