Electricity Supply Will Be Limited To Southern If The Drought Prevails
By Shakila Ifham
January 2, 2022
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) would be forced to give only three hours of electricity supply for its consumers in the Southern Province if the 120MW Samanala Wewa Hydro Power Station water level hits the bottom level, a high ranking official of the Board said.
He said that the situation is not satisfactory though there was a satisfactory level this year. “We can manage till mid or late January and there comes the problem,” he added.
However, it is understood that the Bank of Ceylon Rs. 30 billion and Peoples Bank Rs. 15 billion Line of Credit (LOC) amounting to Rs. 30 billion would be provided to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation shortly to provide fuel to the CEB owned power stations.
Apart from Samanala Wewa Hydro Power Station, ACE Embilitiya Power Plant was providing 120 MW to the Southern Province.
Hydro Power capacity has dropped or 70 per cent from nearly 95 per cent.
Another official also said that with Sapugaskanda Refinery is closed there is no crude oil, in other wor, ds no furnace oil. “There should direct overseas orders to prevent blackouts in most parts of the country,” a senior Power Ministry official said.
The Earth Lanka also learns that discussions are on despite opposition to extending the d contract for emergency power to the tune 170mw from ACE Embilipitiya, ACE Matara and Asia Power.
CEB top management recently turned down the offer ACE Ebilipitiya offer at Rs. 2,635 million. However, some quarters of the CEB is pushing for it.
Power Ministry Spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardena said that the upcoming Polpitiya-Hamantota line would avert issues, however, the timeframe is yet to be decided.
By Shakila Ifham
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