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Emergency power purchase bids open from 28 February

25 Feb 2022

 
  • CEB to invite bids via public ads
  • ‘Daily power outages needed even if fuel supply adequate’: Acting Power Minister Duminda and CEB
  • Power cut schedule given to PUCSL for approval
BY Pamodi Waravita Amidst a serious ongoing power crisis, the Power Ministry said yesterday (24) that bids for the emergency purchase of power will open on 28 February, through public advertisements placed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). “The CEB is finalising the emergency power procurement process and the bids will open on 28 February. After they finalise a seller, the CEB will submit it to the Power Ministry for approval,” officials at the Power Ministry told The Morning yesterday. A cabinet paper was presented by Power Minister Gamini Lokuge in early February seeking approval for the purchase of emergency power from two private power plants (100 megawatts [MW] from one Ace Power Plant, and 20 MW from another Ace Power Plant) – and for the agreements to be signed for a period of three years. However, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana subsequently announced that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asked to reconsider some of the conditions of the purchasing agreements. “We reached a policy agreement on purchasing power privately for emergencies. However, the relevant private companies have asked that we sign the agreement for three years. The Government does not agree to that condition, and the President instructed Lokuge to discuss this condition again to only purchase power during the necessary times. The President also instructed that new tenders be called for the purchase of emergency power,” said Dr. Pathirana. The Electricity Users’ Association has accused that the real reason behind the requests for scheduled daily power cuts is the CEB attempting to purchase emergency power, while Lokuge too has earlier alleged that “certain parties” wanted the Government to sign private power purchasing agreements, in order to acquire power at a higher cost. CEB officials further told The Morning that even with an adequate supply of fuel, the CEB will have to engage in daily power outages. “Only the length of the outages will change, depending on how much fuel is available for the thermal power stations. But even with a continuous supply of fuel, short power outages will occur until the rains come,” said the CEB officials. Speaking in Parliament yesterday (24), acting Power Minister and incumbent Solar Power, Wind, and Hydro Power Generation Projects Development State Minister Duminda Dissanayake said: “Even with a fuel supply for thermal power stations, short power cuts are needed due to the drought.” Sri Lanka has been amidst a power shortfall since the beginning of the year, propagated by the breakdown of Unit Three of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, declining water reserves for the generation of electricity through hydropower, and the shortage of fuel due to the US dollar crisis. The crisis reached new heights this week, when the CEB, alongside the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), announced power outages longer than four hours per area, starting from Wednesday (23). Both the CEB and the PUCSL have stated that the length of a day’s power cuts has to be decided on a daily basis, depending on the availability of fuel.  


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