Aug 11, Colombo: Deputy Chairman of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Anura Wijepala has told media that the country's Chinese-built Lakvijaya coal power plant in Norochcholai was switched off due to a technical failure caused by salt depositing in supply lines from the sea breeze.

He has said that inspections are now being carried out to verify if the machines are damaged.

The CEB official has told the Island newspaper that the China Mechanical Engineering Corporation, which built the power plant, had used substandard equipment and some parts of the power station were corroded.

According to Wijepala, the plant had not been designed for a coastal environment and as a result it had rusted in some places.

The power plant automatically switched off few days ago and the engineers of the Norochcholai power plant expect to restart for test runs soon.

The official further has said that the quality of the equipment used by the Chinese contractor was not up to the standards of Japanese or European products.

He has said that discussions are underway with the Chinese contractor to remedy the problems and avert them in future.

The coal power plant was built using a USD $455 million loan from China's EXIM bank. Much of the construction work was carried out by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.

Sri Lankan President with much fanfare commissioned the country's first coal power plant in March 2011. Since then the plant has broken down numerous times.

Sri Lanka is in severe power crisis due to the technical failure in the Norochcholai power plant. The other thermal power plant in Kerawalapitiya has also broken down.