## 📉 Summary: Norochcholai’s Environmental and Economic Toll

The Lakvijaya (Norochcholai) Power Plant is currently operating as a major economic drain and environmental hazard due to chronic failures in its Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) units. While the plant generates one-third of Sri Lanka’s electricity, it does so at a massive "silent" cost to the treasury and public health. • Economic Impact & Waste Annual social and environmental damage is estimated at US$ 244 Mn (Rs 36.6 Bn). Sri Lanka spends approx. US$ 197 Mn (2024) importing fertiliser, yet the plant's emissions could be converted into 80,000–95,000 tons of ammonium sulphate annually. Retrofitting with ammonia-based FGD technology (estimated at US$ 50-90 Mn) could pay for itself in under 5 years through fertiliser production and health savings. • Environmental & Health Concerns Each unit releases 37,000 kg of sulphur oxides daily when scrubbers fail; total annual emissions reach 25,000–30,000 tons. Acid rain risks damage to tea (high-value export), coconut, and paddy crops, alongside 2,500-year-old cultural monuments downwind. Puttalam district already shows one of the highest chronic respiratory disease burdens in the country. • Operational Failures (Provisional Data) Compliance reports are deemed "unreliable" by independent observers. Approx. 400 tons of fly ash are openly dumped daily instead of being sold for industrial use. Current limestone-based scrubbers are frequently non-functional due to maintenance neglect and technical faults. _Action Required:_ Authorities must conduct an independent technical audit and assess the feasibility of ammonia-based FGD to transition from "smoke to fertiliser."