Upper Kotmale tunnel complete

Engineers yesterday inspected the newly completed 13km long tunnel of Sri Lanka’s Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project (UKHP). The tunnel, which takes water to the hydro power plant at Niyamgamdora from Talawakele, is the longest tunnel to be excavated in the country.

The USD 384M multipurpose UKHP is expected to meet the projected power demand of the country with an installed capacity of 150 MW. The hydropower plant is scheduled for commissioning in about a year. The power generated will be transmitted to the Kotmale switchboard.

UKHP project director Shavindranath Fernando said the project would add 150 MWs to the national grid in less than two years. The UKHP would bring in a number of social and environmental benefits during its operation phase while areas around Thalawakele, Pundalu-oya and Kotmale will get the wider benefits of watershed management, which will extend to the whole of the upper basin.