Foul Point power station

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Foul Point power station is a cancelled power station in Foul Point, Trincomalee, Eastern, Sri Lanka. It is also known as Trincomalee Coal Power Station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Foul Point power station Foul Point, Trincomalee, Eastern, Sri Lanka 8.516666, 81.299157 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year
Unit 1 cancelled coal: unknown 300 subcritical 2026
Unit 2 cancelled coal: unknown 300 subcritical 2026

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 to be determined [100%] to be determined [100.0%]
Unit 2 to be determined [100%] to be determined [100.0%]

Background

In June 2019, the Sri Lankan Cabinet floated a draft energy plan that called for two new 300 MW units in Trincomalee.[1]

In October 2019, it was reported that land in Foul Point was being explored for the proposed plant. The two units were planned for commissioning in 2025 and 2028.[2]

According to the Sri Lankan Cabinet in January 2020, over 200 hectares of land have been allocated to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) at Foul Point for the plant.[3]

Plans for the 2 x 300 MW coal plant in Foul Point were reaffirmed in the CEB's Long Term Power Generation Expansion Plan dated March 2020. The proposal was listed with a planned commissioning year of 2026.[4]

In August 2020, it was reported that TARA InfraPower Private Ltd. of Uttar Pradesh was venturing to undertake the "recently approved" 600 MW coal plant, and the project was estimated as being worth US$1 Billion. However, recent news had not confirmed this.[5]

No New Coal announcement

In July 2021, Sri Lanka formally committed to no new coal in its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).[6]

In August 2021, perturbed by reports that the government was going to terminate the ongoing 300 MW extension project, the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) appealed to the President to allow the completion of the Lakvijaya Power Plant extension.[7]

That month, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) also instructed the CEB to submit a new Long-Term Electricity Generation Plan (LTEGP) reflecting national policy. The CEB’s LTEGP 2022-2041 included the Foul Point power station.[8][9][10]

In advance of the 26th United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow (October-November 2021), Sri Lanka was among seven countries that announced a No New Coal Compact. CEB officials reportedly told AFP the decision meant a planned fourth unit at the Lakvijaya Power Plant power station "would be scrapped," but news did not reference the Foul Point power station.[11]

As of mid-June 2022, a revised Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan did not appear to be available from CEB. The October 2021 letter by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (attached to the existing plan as Annex 15) stated that the updated plan must be prepared on or before June 30, 2022.[12] Though the Ceylon Electricity Board has labelled the Annex as an "approval to carry out development contained therein", an August 2021 letter from the Commission clearly stated that resubmission in line with the government policy includes "no capacity addition of coal power plants".[13]

The plant was presumed shelved.

In February 2023, CEB's 2023-2042 Long Term Generation Expansion Plan stated that development on the Foul Point plant was discontinued [14] .

Articles and Resources

References

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.