Abstract:
Sri Lanka is anticipated to experience a coal dominant electricity sector within this
decade with the introduction of planned large scale coal power plants. Developing Pumped Storage
Power Plant (PSPP) would be one of the most promising options to utilise the additional coal power
and to effectively handle the peaking scenario. Comprehensive study on PSPP was carried out with
the due considerations on the possible sites for the power plant, the electricity transmission aspects
and the future load demand. As the first step, suitable site locations were selected for a new PSPP
interconnection based on existing power plants such as Kotmale, Victoria, Polpitiya and Laxapana.
The Sri Lankan transmission system was modelled using the Integrated Power System Analysis
(IPSA) software package for two different load demand conditions in 2016. Then the technical
feasibility was analysed in the modelled transmission network with the introduction of candidate
PSPPs for different loading conditions. Each of the case in the study was established with the load
flow, fault level study and transient analysis. Finally the optimum capacity for each power plant was
estimated by comparing the voltage stability, overloading conditions and the overall transmission
losses. This study anticipates assisting the policy makers and PSPP designers in selecting an optimal
option to address the peaking scenario and the urgent electricity needs of Sri Lanka.
