Electricity  Generation in

Samanalawewa Powerplant
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Table of Contents
Summary................................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................iii
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................iv
Introduction............................................................................................................................1
The Samanalawewa hydro power project..............................................................................2
Operation and Maintainance..................................................................................................5
Conclusions............................................................................................................................7
References..............................................................................................................................8
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Introduction

Sri   Lanka   is poor   in   fossil   fuel   resources   such as   oil,   coal   and   natural   gas
and     relies     on water and biomass as energy sources. Particularly, water is the energy
resource   with   the   most   potential   in   Sri   Lanka   and   the   government   has   been   actively
promoting hydroelectric power generation by implementing large­scale         hydroelectric
power     development   projects    in the Mahaweli and Laxapana river systems.

As the country’s main electricity power provider CEB is responsible for three tasks.
1. Power generation
2. Transmission
3. Distribution
So  hydro power generation  is   the  major  field   in  generating   power,  and  this   is  mainly
fulfilled by four major complexes.

Capacity
1. Mahaweli 664 MWh
2. Laxapana 335 MWh
3. Other : samanalawewa, kukulegaga, udawalawe, iginiyagala

But with the increasing power consumption thermal power plants were also established
later, there are two major complexes which run by coal power.
1. Kelanitissa
2. Sapugaskanda

The rest of power requirement is fulfilled by purchasing power from private sector.
1. Asia power 49 MW
2. Colombo power 60 MW
3. ACE power 40 MW
4. Lakdanavi 22 MW

This   project   aimed   to   address   the   shortage   of   electricity   supply   in   Sri   Lanka   by
constructing a reservoir­type hydroelectric power plant with a maximum output of 120
MW   in   the   upstream   of       Walawe
River, approximately 160 km southeast
of   Colombo,   thereby   contributing
to       the   economic   development   and
improvement   of   the   welfare   of   Sri
Lanka.
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The Samanalawewa Hydroelectric Project

Geological Details

The second largest project after Mahaweli is the Samanalawewa hydroelectric scheme,
which includes a 100m high rockfill earth core type embankment dam, with project
construction works commencing in 1986 when financing was received from the
governments of Japan and the UK.

Built across the river Walawe, one of the five main rivers in Sri Lanka, Samanalawewa
dam is situated near the town of Balangoda about 160km south east of the capital
Colombo. It is a key element of the 120MW Samanalawewa hydroelectric project
implemented to harness the hydro power potential of the Walawe.
The reservoir created by the dam has a total live storage capacity of 218Mm3 out of
278Mm3 total gross capacity. The balance 60Mm3 is meant for dead storage. At its full
supply level of el 460m above mean sea level, the U-shaped reservoir spreads to a distance
of 8km upstream along two limbs, in the streams Walawe and Belihul.
The other elements in the project are a 5.35km long head race tunnel, 840m long steel
penstock, surface power station housing two 60MW turbine-generator units, and a 650m
long tail race canal. The project is designed to generate 403GWh of energy annually and
the plant has been generating power since its commissioning in October 1992, amidst the
leakage problem which developed in the reservoir due to the adverse geological conditions
prevailing in the right bank.
The power house contains two Francis turbines, each with a capacity of 62 MW, and
generates 405 GWh of energy annually. The power plant is managed by the Ceylon
Electricity Board.

Spillway
The spillway of the dam is of gated overflow chute type designed to pass the 1 in 10,000
year flood of 3600m3/sec and is located in the left abutment of the dam. It is fitted with
three 11m wide 14m high automatic tainted gates (radial gates). The specialty of this gate
type is its ability to open during a flood even without the power supply and/or in the
absence of operators.

The leak from the Samanalawewa Dam

A permeable area of ground was found during the

construction of the dam in 1988. However, as the
reservoir was being filled, a large leak occurred on
the side of the right bank, about 300 metres (980 ft)
downstream from the dam, causing a landslip.
Subsequent measures taken to control the leakage
were largely ineffective. The leakage of
approximately 1,800 litres (400 imp gal) per second
continues, but has not affected power production at
the plant, which has been in full operation since its
commissioning in 1992.
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The leak is constantly monitored. If the leak remains stable and does not increase further, it
does not pose a threat to the sustainability of the project.

Power Generation
The annual power generation was originally planned at 462 GWh/year at the time of phase
I appraisal and was revised to 403 GWh/year at the time of appraisal for the remedial
works.   The   actual   annual   power   generation   was   271   GWh/year   (1993–2005   average),
which was 59% of the originally planned amount and 67% of the revised planned amount. 
There   are   no   records/documents   related   to   the   calculation   basis   of   these   two
different figures (462 GWh/year and 403 GWh/year.) It makes difficult to directly compare
the actual power generation to the original plan. 

   From   the   Samanalawewa   Dam, irrigation   water   is discharged   to   the   Kaltota
Agricultural District downstream.  This   discharge   volume is   determined   based   on
the agreement     between the     Kaltota     Agricultural     District     and     the     Irrigation
Department.   Because   irrigation   water   is discharged      without     going   through
the     power     station,       power         generation         declines     as     the discharge volume
increases. According to CEB, the actual average volume of discharged water is   89 million
annually,   while    the   original   plan   showed     50   million.   It is roughly estimated
that this difference    causes    a reduction    in   power    generation     by 30   GWh/year. 
Furthermore,   based   on   the   existing   relevant   material,   the   originally   planned   annual
discharge volume might   have   been 21.6   million   m3.   In   that   case,   the reduction
of   power   generation would be around 50 GWh/year annually.

Basic outline of the system

Impact

1. Removal of vegetation inside the reservoir 

 It was found necessary to remove vegetation inside the reservoir in order to prevent water
pollution. Vegetation     has   been   removed     from   half   of   the submerged      area.
According to monitoring results of the water quality of the reservoir conducted by CEB,
the water quality was good and water pollution has not occurred at the time of evaluation. 
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2.  Problem of lowering groundwater level 

The   construction   of   diversion   tunnels   for   power   generation   caused   lowering   of

groundwater levels   in   the   areas   situated   on   the   tunnel   routes,   which   resulted
in   drying up   of   wells   and drought of the cultivation lands. To solve this problem, CEB
supplied water by using a water truck. 
When the problem occurred, it was predicted that the groundwater level would recover to 
The original level after project completion. CEB has been observing the groundwater level
in the Rajawaka District on the tunnel route since the project completion. According to
CEB, the groundwater level rose substantially from 1991 to 1993 and has remained almost
unchanged after that time. 
 

3.  Influence to the downstream water use 

In the Kaltota District, downstream from the dam, irrigation farming has been implemented
Since   before   the   project.   In   this   project,   the   water   used   for   power   generation   is   not
discharged  directly  downstream  and goes  around the  Kaltota  District.  Therefore,  when
implementing  the  project,  it  was  necessary  to  give  consideration   to  the  distribution   of
irrigation water for this district. 
CEB discharges irrigation water from the dam in accordance with the agreement with the 
Irrigation   Department.   The   water   leaked   from   the   right   bank   of   the   dam   is   used   as
irrigation water   and   when   the   water   volume   is   inadequate,   water   is   discharged
from   the   agricultural water discharge valve. 
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Operation and Maintainace of the plant

Operation

There are four regular tasks are combined with the power plant.

1. Administration
2. Operation
3. Maintenance
4. Other tasks

Operations of the plant are a huge area which is directly responsible for the proper functioning of
the power plant.

The common operation activities are,
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 Machine starting, stopping and load control

 Data collection
 Alarm reset
 Section isolation and de-isolation
 Preparing reports

The following is the Basic starting sequence of the regular operations of the plant.

 Starting the CW pump (for cooling water)

 Starting the lubrication oil pump
 Starting governor oil etc. pump
 Open the MIV bypass
 Open the generator valve

Supervisory control system

This  system   provides   supervision  and  operations  for  the  basic  operations  in  the  hydro
power plant in a digitized manner. The system is multi­tasking and is operated in real time.
The system is basically built with several sub components such as HMI (Human Machine
Interface), STO, MMI station etc. . . .

Maintainace

There are three types of maintenance methods are taken for the better safety in the overall
system. They are general inspection, breakdown approach, and preventive maintain ace.

In general inspection data is collected about the system in regular basis. So if there is any
difference or contrast in data it can be identified by comparing and analysing regular data.
But even so a breakdown can be happened. In that case it should be fixed very quickly as
sudden failures and malfunction recovery processes are always very expensive. Preventive
procedure is taken care of the possible breakdowns in the future and acts to avoid them in
advance.

 
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Conclusions

 The project’s contribution to increasing the electric power supply in Sri Lanka can 
be duly recognized. However, it is still possible to further seek the project’s 
economic efficiency by making adjustments in water use such as agricultural water.

 Appropriate monitoring for water leakage is being undertaken. 

  
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References

[1].   Samanalawewa   Hydroelectric   Power   Project   (I)   (II)   (III)   and   Samanalawewa
Hydroelectric Project (Reservoir Remedial Works)

­ External      Evaluator:     Hiroyuki      Shindo (Incorporated Administrative
Agency, Japan Water Agency, 
Field Survey:October and   December