Mar 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka Ministry of Power and Energy says that it has issued instruction to the Chinese company undertaking the construction of the coal power plant at Norochcholai to accelerate the project.

According to the sources, Minister John Senavirathne has instructed the construction company to finish the project by the year 2010, one year ahead of the scheduled time period.

Meanwhile, the sources said that the project has achieved a significant progress. The civil engineering activities of the project have been completed and the ground preparation for the construction of the main plant is at its final stage. According to the company, a special team of 100 engineers is available in this week to work on the extensions of the main plant.

The project, worth 455 million US dollars expects to add 300MW to the national electricity grid once it is completed.