Archives

Reservoir impounded: Kukule project on target

by Rashomi Silva

Marking an important milestone in the Kukule underground hydro power project, the reservoir was impounded on Friday by Sagala Ratnayake, the Deputy Minister of Power and Energy, the Ministry of Power and Energy announced yesterday.

A senior project official speaking to the Daily News said that the recent devastating floods had not affected the project significantly. However, the impounding of the reservoir which was due early this month had to be put off as most of the workers could not report to work due to the floods. "We had to put off the impounding of the reservoir which was expected early this month by two weeks as most of the workers could not report to work.

However this will not affect the commissioning of the project on target," he stressed. The project with a generating capacity of 70 MW will add over 300 million power units to the National Grid, upon completion in September. The commissioning of the first phase is expected to take place in July and will add 35 MW to the National Grid, the official said.

The Kukule hydro project, the country's second underground hydro project was estimated to cost Rs 15 billion. The foreign component of the cost, of over Rs 12 billion was provided by the Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund of Japan, whilst the local component was met by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

In a visit to the project site, Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya said that due to the improper planning of the previous office the project was nearly two years behind schedule when he took the helm of the Ministry of Power and Energy. But dedication and the commitment of his staff had helped him to complete it prior to the targeted date.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager