Sri Lanka Mulls Scrapping Sampur Coal Based Power Plant in Favour of LNG Based One

Sri Lankan government is thinking of scrapping the proposed 500 megawatt coal powered plant at Sampur in favour of a gas based one.

According to Sri Lankan state owned newspaper Sunday Observer, country’s power ministry officials will meet Indian counterparts to discuss the issue. The decision to scrap the project was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CEM). The government will now initiate a feasibility study pertaining to setting up of LNG based power plant.  

“The CEM has arrived at several decisions which include negotiating the need for a coal power plant and replacing it with a cleaner model like LNG,” an official told the newspaper.

He added that the CEM also discussed enabling the Kerawalapitiya power plant to operate on dual fuel basis with the facility to convert to LNG when needed.

A spokesperson for the Ceylon Electricity Board, Sulakshana Jayawardena told the Sunday Observer that the crucial talks on May 20 would decide the way forward. Ceylon Electricity Board and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India would build the coal-fired power plant at Sampur.

Earlier this month Saliya Wickramasuriya, director general of the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat, told Lanka Business Online, a news portal, that sharp fall in LNG prices in last one year has made it attractive to pursue gas based power generation.

However, some experts say this may not to practical in the near future as the country lacks infrastructure to import, handle and transport LNG.