The GT7 (115MW) of the Kelanitissa power plant has broken down last night, and substandard quality of diesel could be the cause, The Morning learns.
Speaking to The Morning today, a reliable source revealed that the fuel which was brought down could have been the main cause of the breakdown.
“Last night the trip of the GT7 plant kept going off. We believe it could be the due to the substandard quality of fuel we received recently. The plant was shut down, but in a few hours we should be re-starting it once again to see how it functions again,” the source informed.
When further questioned whether the “substandard diesel” would cause damage to the power plant, the source said that it was surely a possibility.
“Using substandard quality diesel means that the mechanical parts of the plant wears off and the generator would eventually break down. If this happens, the country might need to spend more money to fix the generator. That itself is another additional cost. The plants are running on minimum fuel and maximum capacity right now” he said.
Meanwhile, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) spokesperson, Andrew Nawamani said that speculations about the substandard quality of fuel was not true and that the generator at the Kelanitissa was old and had technical problems.
“The Kelanitissa plant is very old. It is like an old vehicle. Sometimes, this happens and when it happened yesterday, we managed to fix it and link it back to the grid. We found out that there was a blockage in one of the valves and that was immediately rectified. The generator is linked back into the grid and in a few hours we can start it again when the demand arises,” said Nawamini.
He further added that the Sapugaskanda plant is soon running out of fuel once again and the negotiations are currently taking place to obtain more fuel from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
“The Sapugaskanda plant generator A has only about another 8 hours worth of fuel. The generator B can pull through until late evening. The CEB is currently negotiating with the CPC to get more fuel. We don’t know the outcome, but we are doing our best to run the plants with the diesel we have,” Nawamini concluded.