Due to the inability to complete the proposed coal power plant in Sampur on time, Sri Lanka is likely to face a power crisis in 2020, similar to the situation in 2000 where the demand for electricity could not be met, said international consultant and energy expert Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya during a special discussion with www.adaderanabiz.lk

He pointed out that in 2020, Sri Lanka would have to again resort to the higher cost thermal power or diesel fueled power plants due to the delay in setting up the Sampur coal power plant and the demand for electricity rising daily.

With no signs of any new power generation plants being set up the delay in setting up the Sampur coal power plant due to various reasons would cause adverse impacts on the power and energy sectors in Sri Lanka, he pointed out.

The agreement to set up a coal power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee was signed in Colombo between India and Sri Lanka in 2013, to further strengthen Indo-Lanka diplomatic ties.

This power plant estimated to cost some USD 512 million was expected to generate 500 mega watts of electricity.

Though construction work was to begin within one year of the agreement being signed, it has still not begun.

Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya is a Senior Energy Consultant and graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1982. He also holds a PhD in Electric Power Engineering from the University of Cambridge, UK. He initially worked in the Energy Efficiency Task Force of the Ministry of Energy in Sri Lanka. Thereafter for ten years, he worked in the power generation planning divisions of the Ceylon Electricity Board in Sri Lanka and in Saudi Arabia.

He was the President of Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association from 2004 to 2006 and is a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.