Work on an 80MW hydroelectric station in Sri Lanka is expected to begin in early 1999, contractors estimate. The station, on the Kukule Ganga river, has been funded by the Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund of Japan, as part of the Greater Colombo Flood Control and Environment Improvement Project.
Located some 70km southeast of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, the Kukule Ganaga plant exploits a head of 180m. It will comprise a 7km tunnel system, and a power cavern equipped with two Francis turbines. At 50m-long, the power cavern has been designed to require the minimum possible rock excavation volume, according to lahmeyer International, which is responsible for underground civil construction work. The other main contractors are electrowatt Engineering Services of Germany and Nippon Koei of Japan, while the Sri Lankan project development is handled by the utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board.