Upper Kotmale to be opened tomorrow

Sri Lanka will open its last but largest hydro power plant tomorrow as part of a drive to provide 100 per cent electricity to the entire population by the end of this year, a statement by the Power and Energy Ministry announced.

Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka will inaugurate the first flow of water along the massive tunnel that feeds the plant. This tunnel is considered to be an engineering achievement and is the largest in Sri Lanka.

The150 Mega Watt (MW) Upper Kotmale hydropower plant, as the project is called, was proposed for over a decade but ran into hurdles over environmental concerns.  Its construction stagnated till 2005 before it was fast-tracked by the present Government with funding assistance from the Japanese Government to the tune of US$ 487 million. The Sri Lankan Government spent an estimated US$ 75 million on the project.  

“Construction of the Upper Kotmale Power plant is 92 per cent complete and it will commence production of power next week,” a statement by the Sri Lankan Power and Energy Ministry said, adding that initially 75MW will be added to the grid.  The second generator with 75 MW capacity is expected to be operational by April 2012.

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries in South Asia to tap into its significant water resources to produce hydroelectricity. It also has one of the highest costs for power in the region.

The Upper Kotmale power project is significant as it is the last large scale power source produced from hydro in Sri Lanka, which ends the decades of construction that reached a zenith during the Mahaweli era.