Last phase of Sri Lanka’s Norochcholai coal power plant to open on September 16

Colombo: The third and final phase of the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Puttalam will be declared open on the 16th of this month under the patronage of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the government said.

President Xi is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on the same day.

The Lakvijaya coal power plant was built in two phases. The Phase I of the project with the capacity of 300 MW was commissioned in March 2010 and the Phase II with capacity of 2X300 MW will be commissioned during the Chinese President’s visit. With the completion of the second phase the plant will add a total of 900 MW to the grid.

According to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the funding for the project was provided by the Chinese Government on a long term low interest rate to the Sri Lankan Government.

The construction work was carried out by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) while the funding is provided by the EXIM Bank of the Republic of China. As local investment the Sri Lankan Government has invested Rs. 5.3 billion for the first stage and Rs. 11 billion for the second stage of construction.