Lokuge insists there are no power cuts

By Ifham Nizam

Officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) say load shedding is going to be a routine affair for sometime, but Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge yesterday said that there wouldn’t be any power cuts.

Minister Lokuge told The Island that it was unfortunate that the Sojitz Power Plant had developed a defect. Sojitz is an independent thermal power producer that produces 163MW. However, the problem had been rectified within hours, the Minister added.

Power outages were, however, reported from most parts of the country on Tuesday evening.

Minister Lokuge said the CEB could manage the situation without imposing power cuts.

Lokuge said there were some issues due to the on-going repairs to a 300MW plant at the Norochcholai coal power Complex. “That matter would be sorted out by 22 Jan,” he added.

The Minister also assured that there were no plans to go for emergency power purchases. “We will handle the situation with our resources,” he vouched.

The Island learns that a group of Chinese experts will arrive here to attend to the Norochcholai Power Plant.

CEB Vice Chairman Nalinda Illagakoon said that they would be able to manage without power cuts unless there were major breakdowns.

CEB Additional General Manager, Corporate Strategy, D.C.R. Abeysekara also said that electricity would continue to be supplied in the coming weeks with no interruptions.