The Kankesanthurai Power Station (also commonly referred to as the Koolair Power Station) was a

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

-run thermal power station which was commissioned as part of the urgent plan by the

Ceylon Electricity Board The Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB (; ), was the largest electricity company in Sri Lanka. With a market share of nearly 100%, it controlled all major functions of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and retailing in Sri Lanka. I ...

to overcome the 1990s power crisis. Construction of the power station began in August 1998, and the power station was commissioned three months later on in

Kankesanthurai Kankesanthurai (, , lit. ''Port Kankesan''), colloquially known as KKS, is a port suburb, fishing division and resort hub of the Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Formerly an electoral district, Kankesanthurai is home to the Kankesant ...

, in the

Jaffna Peninsula The Jaffna Peninsula (, or ) is a region in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna, and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna Kingdom. The peninsula was historically ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It was the biggest power station in the Jaffna region, at that time. Despite having an original installed capacity of , the power station had mostly operated in the 8-15 MW range due to conflict damage caused by

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

fire to the plant (and neighbouring Kankesanthurai Cement Factory) in May 2000. The operators were unable to repair the damage due to the insurance company rejecting the claim, stating that it was due to war, and not due to terrorism for which it was originally insured for.

History

The plant equipment was imported in 1996 and initially commissioned in Ethul Kotte (in January 1997) and

Malabe Malabe (, ) is a suburb of Kaduwela in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the New Kandy Road (Kaduwela Road) about away from the centre of the commercial capital Colombo. This suburb is a crucial economic centre in Colombo. Et ...

(in 1998) as separate power stations with capacities of and . Due to the protests and complaints against the high levels of noise of up to 100 dB caused by the operation of the Kotte Power Station in the residential area, it was transferred to its final location at

in the

Jaffna District Jaffna District ( ''Yāḻppāṇam Māvaṭṭam''; ''yāpanaya distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a ...

, in August 1998. The plant operated only for three months in Kotte - generating a total of prior to transfer. The Malabe Power Station too faced similar concerns about noise, before changes were made to reduce sound output from 102dB to 49dB. With increasing demand in the Jaffna Peninsula, the facility too was subsequently shifted from Malabe in December 1999, to the newly created facility in Kankesanthurai. Seventeen generators were relocated in a period of three months.

References

External links

* * * {{Electricity in Sri Lanka Oil-fired power stations in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Jaffna District Former power stations in Sri Lanka

History

See also

References

External links