No power cuts are expected in the coming months despite the absence of rains until April, Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Secretary Dr. Suren Batagoda said.
He said, the Ceylon Electricity Board has now deviated from its original stance to sustain power supply during the dry season. This comes in the wake of the forecast issued that rains could not be expected at least till April this year.
“We were hoping that there would be rains but it seems it is not the case.” The Secretary said.
“We have made arrangements to obtain electricity that are self generated. Many factories, hotels and other industries have their own sources of electricity and this may be by way of generators or any other means. We have already approached such identified targets to supply electricity to the national grid. We expect to buy around 200 -300 megawatts of electricity from them and we will purchase a unit at Rs.36. The need at the moment is only for about 100 megawatts. However, there is a capacity of around 500 megawatt in the country which we have identified.”
Further another power plant in Matara that has the capacity to produce around 25 megawatts which is currently shutdown due to the completion of the lease period will be renewed and leased out again for another year. Similar power plants in Embilipitiya and Puttlam will be used to generate power during this dry spell.
Similarly, more short term measures have been taken to ensure the demand is met and that there won’t be disruption to the power supply in the country. Meanwhile the Norochcholai Power Plant too has been under maintenance to face contingencies. According to Dr. Batagoda preparations have been made to ensure that at least one of the power generating units in the Norochcholai plant is kept as a reserve at all times. The Public Utilities Commission in a report released recently cautioned that 550 MW of power is necessary to meet the demand during the peak hours. It states that there would not be rains according to the current weather pattern in the country until April.