Kelanitissa Power Station


The Kelanitissa Power Station is a state-owned power station located on the south bank of the Kelani River in the northern part of the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Commissioned in 1964, it is the first thermal power station built in Sri Lanka, after the country gained independence. The facility has a current gross installed capacity of, a significant amount when compared to the total installed capacity of nearly in the year 2017. The facility is owned and operated by the Ceylon Electricity Board.
The power station has a total of 10 generation units: two boiler steam units, six gas turbines, one gas turbine, and one combined cycle unit. As of 2018, both units and two units were decommissioned after the commissioning of the combined cycle unit. The old units are now used as peak-load units. The was sent to Italy for renovations in 2011.
The newest naphtha-fuelled combined cycle unit was commissioned in August 2002. It consists of a gas turbine and a steam turbine, and one exhaust heat recovery boiler. The project was funded by the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan. Initially, the capacity was planned at with two or three units, but a single unit with higher capacity was subsequently chosen.
CommissionedCapacity UnitModelPlant divisionStatus
196425Boiler 1 BoilerDecommissioned
196425Boiler 2 BoilerDecommissioned
1980 November20Gas turbine 1GE Frame 5Gas TurbineDecommissioned
1981 March20Gas turbine 2GE Frame 5Gas TurbineDecommissioned
1981 April20Gas turbine 3GE Frame 5Gas TurbineOperational
1981 December20Gas turbine 4GE Frame 5Gas TurbineOperational
1982 March20Gas turbine 5GE Frame 5Gas TurbineOperational
1982 April20Gas turbine 6GE Frame 5Gas TurbineOperational
1997 August115Gas turbine 7 GT7Operational
2002 August110Gas turbine 8 Combined CycleOperational
2002 August55Steam turbine Combined CycleOperational

YearBoilerTotal
196997---97
19702---2
197118---18
197288---88
1973261---261
197413---13
19751---1
197624---24
19772---2
197814---14
197958---58
198014018--158
198198183--281
198289353--442
1983147735--882
198411117--128
198509--9
1986-1--1
1987-314--314
1988-83--83
1989-1--1
199010--1
199110340--143
1992163302--465
19938812--100
199487102--189
199551127--178
1996227500--727
1997196431168-795
199821439303-556
1999128204355-687
2000228374602-1,204
200120040028170951
200269179227470945
2003-382938551,186
2004-1414391,1071,687
2005-222771,0071,306
2006-667734807
2007-482201,0961,364
2008-25941,0441,163
2009-981379201,155
2010-2627494547
2011-77244256577
2012-981208801,098
2013-117611629
2014-34208751993
2015-124660685
Total2,8185,1394,10310,95523,015

Incidents

  • On 28 October 2008 at 23:30, the LTTE launched two bombs in an aerial attack on the power station, causing a fire and damaging the government-owned Fiat unit. It took six months to restore the unit while one person was reported to have died, possibly due to shock. The attack was carried out using a Czech-built Zlín Z 42 single-engine trainer aircraft.
  • On 21 April 2012 at about 03:00, a fire erupted at the power station complex, damaging the main switchboard for the plant's power generation machinery. Power generation was ceased, but did not trigger any blackouts due to alternative sources being available at the time. Six employees of the power station who inhaled noxious fumes as a result of the fire were hospitalized.
  • On 3 February 2022 at about 20:00, the combined power station was shut down due to lack of fuel