Chinese private sector sought equity stake in coal power plant
CEB said ‘no’ as it is a goldmine, claims Ambassador Wu
The Chinese private sector had sought an equity stake in the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai but the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had turned down the proposal, Chinese officials confirmed this week.
“What I heard is that some of the Chinese businessmen asked the CEB whether we can get some equity from the power plant,” said Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao at a briefing on Friday. “But the CEB said, no, no, no, this is a gold mine. It makes money every day be- cause the cost of coal power is much cheaper than oil.”
The briefing at the Chinese Embassy in Colombo was attended by Liu Jianchao, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Special Envoy of the Chinese Government. Hed was on a visit to Sri Lanka to hold talks on Chinese-funded projects.
Mr Liu said that any project could have shortcomings. However, it also had benefits. “For example, I was told yesterday by the Chinese company managers that, out of two lights in this room, one is lighted up by the power generated by the power plant built by the Chinese companies.”
“Yes, technology is something that is very sophisticated,” he said. “Power plants that can work well in China, technology that can work well in China, will not necessarily work well in other countries. So they have to do the testing.”
Once it entered into operation, electricity prices were reduced by 25 per cent, Mr. Liu pointed out. “We are very happy with that,” he said. “But if anything crops up, we will try to fix it.”
Mr. Wu Jianghao observed that the Chinese-built coal power plant was the first of its kind in Sri Lanka. “You have very good engineers but you lack qualified labourers,” he said. “So that’s why several shutdowns occurred after the first phase operation. But have you ever seen or heard of a new shutdown from June of last year?
“To some extent we can see with the support and cooperation between the Chinese company and the CEB, we have already done this job,” he continued.