Engineers Blast Some Environmentalists For Spreading Scare Stories About Norochcholai
The first coal fired power plant complex at Norochcholai maintained the best ambient air quality standards, arsenic level and fly ash content was not detrimental to the humans or atmosphere as alleged by some environmentalists, a specialist on the subject said.
Plant’s Environment Engineer Chinthaka Dissanayaka told The Island that officials numbering nearly 1,000 undergo routine checkups, but had not encountered any health issues due to working there. Similarly water and fish in the vicinity were routinely checked by the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA). Meanwhile, the team of engineers at the Lak Vijaya Power Plant led by Indrasiri Gallage welcomed the government’s initiative to go for the fourth unit at the Plant Complex shortly. The senior electrical engineer assured that the upcoming plant would be in a much better condition than other units adding that second and third perform far better than the first which had few issues. He said that the local engineers were now on a better wicket when it came to know-how of a coal fired power plant. The feasibility study on the fourth plant at the Norochcholai complex would be completed within a month and embark on its construction thereafter, Gallage said.
Though still at a discussion level, engineers were hopeful that the Chinese government would provide a soft loan of USD 350-400 million to embark on the fourth plant. Though the Ministry of Finance had recommended Independent Power Producers (IPP) model, senior engineers said there was no point in going for IPP in Norochcholai when everything was under the CEB control. Engineers are also not in favour of a joint venture between China and Sri Lanka, as it would be similar to an IPP. Officials said that Sri Lanka had gained more than Rs. 500 billion from the Norochcholai plant during the past eight years. A senior engineer said: “Even the Chinese are fond of the plant … this may be the reason why they want to help us. A soft loan from China is the best option as regards the fourth plant in Norochcholai. If things go well we can generate electricity from the fourth unit in 2023.” A senior engineer praised former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for taking the bold initiative to set up the plant. He added: “Everyone is talking about solar plants completely forgetting the cost factor particularly when it comes to the battery,” he added. Another engineer said that unless it was a government-to-government arrangement, competitive bidding would be ideal. “The Electricity Act clearly says apart from a government-to-government project, the Board can make decisions in times of crisis”.
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