COLOMBO: State-run Ceylon Electricity Board has shut down one of three coal plants in Sri Lanka’s North West coast after an environmental agency rapped it for missing environmental standards.
The CEB shut down the plant on April 11 to fix malfunctioning equipment that scrubs particles and harmful gases.
The Provincial Environmental Authority ordered an immediate shut down of the plant on April 06 saying the utility has not responded to an earlier letter requesting proposals to fix failed equipment that would scrub exhaust gases, sources familiar with the matter said.
The CEB has shut the plant with New Year holidays starting on Friday, a CEB source said.
The plant’s electrostatic precipitators which removes particles and harmful emissions would be repaired over the following week.
The CEB scheduled maintenance for mid-April when many factories are closed for holidays to minimise the use of cost of expensive liquid fuel energy an official said.
The plant is expected to come back on stream on April 21.
Plant one of the complex designed and built by a Chinese firm is considered the ‘most troublesome’ and was built in haste during the height of a 30-year war.
