Colombo, Jan 20 (DailyMirror) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board is operating on a very thin margin as fuel is running out in all the major power plants and fuel stocks are available only for another week, while hydropower plants are using up all the reserved water, the Daily Mirror learns.
As the Kelanitissa Power Plant has come to a complete halt since Tuesday night, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation till last night was rushing to provide 10,000 metric tonnes of diesel to get the plant re-functioning as soon as possible.
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Due to the plant coming to a complete standstill, several areas yesterday faced power cuts for over three hours, with the CEB later in the evening announcing a 1-hour 45-minute power cut in many areas.
The promised diesel stocks was expected to be transferred into the Kelanitissa lines by late last night but if the tanks are not filled by today, the power cuts will continue even today, sources from the CEB said.
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However, this 10,000 metric tonnes of diesel will last for only eight days and if the CPC fails to provide continued stocks, then the Kelanitissa plant will once again come to a halt by Jan.28.
Engineers are racing against time to get the third unit at the Norochcholai Power Plant fixed, which is presently under maintenance to provide the lost 300 megawatts of electricity if the Kelanitissa Power Plant comes to a halt in a week.
Meanwhile, CEB Engineers Union Secretary Dhammika Wimalaratne told Daily Mirror that presently there was no reserved electricity generation in the plants and the country was functioning on a very thin line.
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If at any point one of the lines break down in any of the power plants, then the country will have to face power cuts. And if the CPC fails to provide the continuous fuel stocks, then too the CEB will be forced to impose power cuts daily.
The Daily Mirror learns that the Sapugaskanda Power Plant is only half functioning due to the lack of furnace oil and the Barge and Uturu Janani Power Plants have fuel stocks only till January 22.
The CPC is also in the meantime left stranded due to the lack of forex to purchase sufficient fuel stocks to ensure uninterrupted supply.
Presently, Hydro Power Plants are generating 20 per cent of the electricity which is draining the reserved water stocks from the reservoirs. This water is usually reserved for the March, April dry months and if the country does not experience rains in the coming months, and if the fuel crisis is not sorted soon, then the CEB will be forced to announce an electricity supply schedule where electricity will be provided to consumers only for certain hours during the day and night by the month of March.
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