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Diesel prioritised to power stations over fuel sheds

05 May 2022

  • Minister Kanchana warns of seven-hour power cuts otherwise
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said yesterday (5) that the Government has taken a policy decision to allocate diesel stocks to power stations so that power outages can be maintained at three hours and 20 minutes, which has led to less diesel stocks being released to the market for transport purposes. “We do have a problem with diesel. It is not that there aren’t enough stocks. But because one unit of the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai broke down this week, we had to make a policy decision as to whether to reduce fuel queues or to keep power cuts at three hours and 20 minutes,” said Wijesekera, while addressing the Parliament yesterday. “We can release diesel to fuel pumping stations but we will have to increase power cuts to seven hours then. Thus, we took a policy decision to reserve fuel for the power stations, thereby maintaining power outages at only three hours and 20 minutes per day.”  Therefore, he said that although about 4,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of diesel is usually released to fuel pumping stations every day, these days, only about 1,000-1, 500 MTs are released. “However, we request consumers to not stock up on diesel. We have to manage this until the next diesel shipment, which is due to arrive on 11 May, although it may be a couple of days late,” he added. Furthermore, Wijesekera said that hydropower stations are contributing their maximum possible capacity to the electricity grid at the moment and that the Ceylon Electricity Board hopes to complete the repairs at Lakvijaya by 8 May. Commenting on a fuel pricing formula, Wijesekera said that a proposal on it will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers next week. The Morning learnt that the Ministry of Power and Energy has appointed a committee for this purpose and that discussions are underway about the matter. “The fuel pricing formula does not aim to make a profit for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) but only to reduce its costs so that the CPC can make money for the next imports,” said Wijesekera. He also noted the losses that the CPC has faced due to the closure of the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery, and assured that it will be reopened as soon as possible.

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