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No need for power outages over weekend 

28 Jan 2022

  • PUCSL notes fuel stocks sufficient till 30 January
Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said yesterday (27) that there will be no need for power outages over the weekend, until 31 January, as per the PUCSL’s daily review of the fuel stocks that are required by the power plants.  “On a daily basis, we review the power plants and the fuel stocks that are required for them. Based on the results of those reviews only we decide the necessity of power interruption. On the last two occasions, we came to the conclusion that an uninterrupted supply could be achieved without any power cuts. Yesterday, we reviewed the situation till 31 January. We estimated that there was a capacity shortage of 30 megawatts (MW) during the peak hours of yesterday which should be properly managed. After that, the demand for electricity will decrease in the coming weekend. Therefore, there will be no need for power interruptions on the weekend of tomorrow (29) and 30 January. We urge consumers and institutions to use electricity sparingly during this period and to support the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the PUCSL,” said Ratnayake in a statement issued in this regard yesterday.  Thus, the PUCSL has not granted permission to the proposal made by the CEB for scheduled power outages.  Earlier this week, the PUCSL said that it is compiling a number of proposals to aid in averting and resolving the power crisis, with one of them being to utilise privately and state institution-owned backup generators which sit idle most of the time. Expressing his views in this regard yesterday, Ratnayake said that the PUCSL has started discussions with government and private companies that own power generators and that negotiations with two such groups have now been successfully concluded. “They have responded positively to our proposal. When there is a shortage of electricity, the owners of generators are encouraged to supply their electricity demand from those generators initially. With that, the demand for electricity from the national grid will decrease and it will be easier to meet the national demand in case of a shortage. In the second phase of this programme, we are looking at options to connect the generators owned by state and private companies to the national grid in the case of a power shortage,” he said.  The power crisis has been ongoing for the past month, with Power Minister Gamini Lokuge and Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila attempting to prioritise fuel for their respective power and energy sectors. The privately run Kelanitissa Sojitz Power Plant is undergoing compulsory, overdue, routine maintenance for the next six days, thus depriving the grid of 160 MW of power. However, the CEB has stated yesterday that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has provided enough diesel stocks for the next seven days for the power plants.  That said, due to this switch to diesel, from the usual furnace oil (because of the shortages), in some power plants, a larger cost is being incurred to produce electricity, the CEB said.  Although the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery, which produces furnace oil, was due to start operations yesterday, it has been postponed till about 30 January. The refinery was shut down last month, with Gammanpila stating that the US dollar crisis had led to a difficulty in importing crude oil to the country. Gammanpila said earlier this week that once the refinery restarts its operations, they will be able to provide furnace oil through the refinery to the power plants generating electricity that depend on furnace oil.


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