(25/10/2016) – Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) appointed a high-profiled three member committee to carry out an independent investigation of the recent break down of Lakvijaya coal power plant at Norochcholai.

Shibly Aziz, Former Attorney General and President Counsel has been appointed as the Chairman of the Committee with R I Senaratne, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, IESL Collage of Engineering and Professor Kapila Perera, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa have been appointed as committee members.

The Investigation Team is required to;
• Investigate relevant technical and non-technical evidence/information/data that requires ascertaining the causes of the failure
• Examine the causes for the failure
• Analyze whether the failure could have been prevented
• Make recommendations and advices to prevent similar failures in future

A failure of Norochcholai Lakvijaya Power Station has occurred, around 11.00 hrs on 15th October 2016 which resulted power cuts up to one and a half hours in Island wide excluding greater Colombo.

As the Electricity Regulator, PUCSL is obliged to ensure that a coordinated, efficient and economical system of electricity supply is provided and maintained throughout Sri Lanka at all times. Unexpected major failures in the generation plants have a significant negative impact on continuity of the supply.

Hence the new committee, appointed by PUCSL, will seek to identify the causes for the unforeseen failure and recommendations to prevent such failures in the future.

The Committee Members include,

Mr Shibly Aziz, President’s Counsel – Chairman of the Committee
Mr Azizis is a well-known and eminent President’s Counsel in Sri Lanka who has contributed extensively to the development of the legal system in the country. He was the former Attorney General of Sri Lanka and has served on a number of national commissions and statutory bodies and represented Sri Lankan in several international fora. He continues his legal career now in active private practice, specialising in commercial law, shipping and aviation law, and public law, and has litigated several landmark cases in the country.

Prof. Kapila Perera, Dean – Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa – Member of the Committee
Professor Kapila Perera joined the University staff in 1995, also served as a Lieutenant Commander of the regular force of the Sri Lanka Navy prior to joining the University. He obtained a Masters Degree from University of California Davis in 1989 in Mechanical Engineering, followed by Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1993 from the same University. Prof. Perera’s research interests include Turbulent Heat Transfer and Combustion Modeling, Energy Sources, Renewable Energy Technologies and Co-generation.

Mr R I Senaratne BScEng (Hons); MIE (Sri Lanka); CEng; MBA (Merit); MIET (UK)- Member of the Committee
Eng. Senaratne is the Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, IESL Collage of Engineering and has more than 41 years’ of experience in the field electrical engineering.