Pettah Power Station

Pettah Power Station opened in 1898 and was located on Gasworks Street in the Pettah area of central Colombo.^[1][2] It was Ceylon's second power station after the one on Bristol Street in the Fort area.^[3] It was acquired by the Colombo Electric Tramways and Lighting Company (CETLC) after the company was formed in 1902.^[4] CETLC was bought by the government in 1928 and its operations transferred to the Department of Government Electrical Undertakings (DGEU).^[4] One more 3 MW steam turbine was added in the 1930s.^[4] Three 1 MW diesel generator sets were added during World War II.^[4]

In 1956 the station's generating capacity stood at 9 MW (one 3 MW steam unit and three 2 MW Mirlees diesel units).^[5] Six 2 MW Mirlees diesel units were installed in 1957.^[5] In 1959 the station's generating capacity stood at 16 MW (one 3 MW steam unit, three 1 MW diesel units and five 2 MW diesel units).^[6]

By the early 1960s the station's generating capacity stood at 18 MW (one 3 MW steam unit, three 1 MW diesel units and six 2 MW diesel units) but its effective generating capacity stood at 14.5 MW.^[7] 4 MW of diesel units were transferred to Chunnakam Power Station.^[8] In 1969 the station's generating capacity stood at 16 MW.^[9]

By the early 1980s the station's generating capacity stood at 6 MW (three 2 MW diesel units from the 1950s) and, although each unit was capable of 1.8 MW output, they were only operating at 1.5 MW each.^[10]