# 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 360 MW, a significant amount when compared to the total installed capacity of nearly 4,086 MW 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 25 MW boiler steam units, six 20 MW gas turbines, one 115 MW gas turbine, and one 165 MW combined cycle unit. As of 2018, both 25 MW units and two 20 MW units were decommissioned after the commissioning of the combined cycle unit. The old units are now used as peak-load units. The 115 MW was sent to Italy for renovations in 2011.
The newest 165 MW naphtha-fuelled combined cycle unit was commissioned in August 2002. It consists of a 110 MW gas turbine and a 55 MW 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 150 MW with two or three 37–67 MW units, but a single unit with higher capacity was subsequently chosen.
Units :
| Commissioned | Capacity (MW) | Unit | Model | Plant division | Status |
| 1964 | 25 | Boiler 1 | | Boiler | Decommissioned |
| 1964 | 25 | Boiler 2 | | Boiler | Decommissioned |
| 1980 November | 20 | Gas turbine 1 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Decommissioned |
| 1981 March | 20 | Gas turbine 2 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Decommissioned |
| 1981 April | 20 | Gas turbine 3 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Operational |
| 1981 December | 20 | Gas turbine 4 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Operational |
| 1982 March | 20 | Gas turbine 5 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Operational |
| 1982 April | 20 | Gas turbine 6 | GE Frame 5 | Gas Turbine | Operational |
| 1997 August | 115 | Gas turbine 7 | | GT7 | Operational |
| 2002 August | 110 | Gas turbine 8 | | Combined Cycle | Operational |
| 2002 August | 55 | Steam turbine | | Combined Cycle | Operational |
Electricity generation by plant division (GWh) :
| Year | Boiler | Gas Turbine 1-6 | Gas Turbine 7 | Combined Cycle | Total |
| 1969 | 97 | - | - | - | 97 |
| 1970 | 2 | - | - | - | 2 |
| 1971 | 18 | - | - | - | 18 |
| 1972 | 88 | - | - | - | 88 |
| 1973 | 261 | - | - | - | 261 |
| 1974 | 13 | - | - | - | 13 |
| 1975 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| 1976 | 24 | - | - | - | 24 |
| 1977 | 2 | - | - | - | 2 |
| 1978 | 14 | - | - | - | 14 |
| 1979 | 58 | - | - | - | 58 |
| 1980 | 140 | 18 | - | - | 158 |
| 1981 | 98 | 183 | - | - | 281 |
| 1982 | 89 | 353 | - | - | 442 |
| 1983 | 147 | 735 | - | - | 882 |
| 1984 | 11 | 117 | - | - | 128 |
| 1985 | 0 | 9 | - | - | 9 |
| 1986 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 1987 | - | 314 | - | - | 314 |
| 1988 | - | 83 | - | - | 83 |
| 1989 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 1990 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 1 |
| 1991 | 103 | 40 | - | - | 143 |
| 1992 | 163 | 302 | - | - | 465 |
| 1993 | 88 | 12 | - | - | 100 |
| 1994 | 87 | 102 | - | - | 189 |
| 1995 | 51 | 127 | - | - | 178 |
| 1996 | 227 | 500 | - | - | 727 |
| 1997 | 196 | 431 | 168 | - | 795 |
| 1998 | 214 | 39 | 303 | - | 556 |
| 1999 | 128 | 204 | 355 | - | 687 |
| 2000 | 228 | 374 | 602 | - | 1,204 |
| 2001 | 200 | 400 | 281 | 70 | 951 |
| 2002 | 69 | 179 | 227 | 470 | 945 |
| 2003 | - | 38 | 293 | 855 | 1,186 |
| 2004 | - | 141 | 439 | 1,107 | 1,687 |
| 2005 | - | 22 | 277 | 1,007 | 1,306 |
| 2006 | - | 6 | 67 | 734 | 807 |
| 2007 | - | 48 | 220 | 1,096 | 1,364 |
| 2008 | - | 25 | 94 | 1,044 | 1,163 |
| 2009 | - | 98 | 137 | 920 | 1,155 |
| 2010 | - | 26 | 27 | 494 | 547 |
| 2011 | - | 77 | 244 | 256 | 577 |
| 2012 | - | 98 | 120 | 880 | 1,098 |
| 2013 | - | 1 | 17 | 611 | 629 |
| 2014 | - | 34 | 208 | 751 | 993 |
| 2015 | - | 1 | 24 | 660 | 685 |
| Total | 2,818 | 5,139 | 4,103 | 10,955 | 23,015 |

## 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 115 MW 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