The Island Editorial

‘Always Breakdown’

19 October 2016

 

The Norochcholai coal-fired power plant seems to be jinxed. It has broken down umpteen times since the commissioning of its first unit in 2011. It used to fail at such a nagging rate that cynics coined the sobriquet, ‘Always Breakdown’; it has since lived up to its reputation! It failed again the other day.

What really irks the public is not the frequent Norochcholai shutdowns or the attendant power cuts as such but the failure on the part of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) experts to find out the real causes of the shutdowns and rectify them. Politicians and CEB experts grope in the dark like the proverbial blind men who sought to figure out the shape of an elephant by touching different parts of the animal and drew ridiculous conclusions. The same goes for other power failures A few moons ago we experienced a countrywide power outage which lasted for hours; different reasons were given for it and even the army was deployed to guard the CEB grid substations as sabotage was not ruled out.

As for the latest Norochcholai shutdown, initially the CEB decided to impose three-and-a-half-hour power cuts, but subsequently reduced the duration to one-and-a-half hours following an undertaking by the Mahaweli Authority to release more water from its reservoirs to generate electricity. The country is again at the mercy of the weather gods.

Unless it rains sufficiently in the catchment areas within the next few days, we will have to contend with longer power cuts which are bound to have a devastating impact on the economy which is already in a very bad shape. The government is desperate for foreign investment which alone can give a turbo boost to the ailing economy, but the question is whether any foreigner will ever want to invest in this country without a reliable power supply.

Independent power and energy experts have, through the pages of this newspaper, warned that unless the proposed Sampur coal-fired power plant is built fast, power cuts will be the order of the day before long. But, it is doubtful whether the situation will improve at all if we are to be burdened with another plant like the one at Norochcholai. In such an eventuality, we will have enough coal power plants but not an uninterrupted power supply!

The government has embarked on an ambitious project to provide electricity to everyone. Perhaps, it will have to launch another scheme called ‘Generators for all’.

In August, 2012, we quoted the then CEB Chairman Anura Wijepala as saying that the China Machinery Engineering Corporation, which built Norochcholai plant had used substandard equipment and some parts of the power station were already corroded. Pointing out that the plant had not been designed for installation in a coastal environment, he categorically stated that the quality of Norochcholai equipment was nowhere near that of Japanese or European products. The CEB chief said some companies like the Colombo Dockyard would have to be contracted to remove the Norochcholai rust.

Commenting on the CEB Chairman’s revelation, we editorially asked, on August 10, 2012, what the CEB experts had been doing while the low quality equipment was being installed at Norochcholai. Arguing that the Chinese contractor would not have been able to install substandard equipment and get away with it without the blessings of the bigwigs of the Rajapaksa government we called for a probe. Pointing out that the country could not depend on the Norochcholai plant for a reliable power supply, we urged the then UNP-led Opposition to demand a parliamentary debate on ‘Always Breakdown’.

The incumbent UNP-led administration is busy probing even those who misused one or two state-owned vehicles each under the previous government. Why doesn’t it conduct an investigation into Wijepala’s allegation in a bid to find out whether anyone lined his pockets at the expense of the quality of Norochcholai equipment? If it orders a probe it may be able to remedy the Norochcholai ills and catch the rogues who allegedly received kickbacks. Two birds are waiting to be killed with one stone!