PUCSL chief eats his words, announces power cuts

By Rathindra Kuruwita

There would be power cuts for the next two years as no major power plants would become operational during that period, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Rathnayaka said yesterday.

Rathnayaka also announced that there would be one-hour and 45-minute of power cuts on a daily basis from yesterday. Rathnayaka said load shedding would be effected in two slots––from 2.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. and from 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

“There will be a one hour power cut between 2.30 pm to 6.30 pm and a 45 minute power cut between 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm,” he said.

Earlier this week, the PUCSL assured that there would not be any power cuts for the next three months..

“We assumed that we will have enough oil stocks for power generation and that there will not be any major breakdowns. However, now we know that we don’t have enough oil to run the generators and about 400 MW of generators are out of service. Therefore, we have no choice but to shed power from yesterday,” he said.

Rathnayaka said that apart from the shortage of diesel, furnace oil and naphtha, they had also been compelled to reduce the production of electricity using hydro power.

“Currently, 10 gigawatt hours of electricity is generated through hydro power. But we have to reduce this by half from Friday (18) too to ensure that there is enough water for the next 45 days,” he said.

The CEB was unable to purchase diesel, furnace oil and naphtha, the inability due to financial difficulties and the PUCSL had mediated to get Rs. 250 million from LECO to mitigate the situation.

“We need a long-term plan to address this situation. Otherwise, power cuts will be a regular occurrence for the next two years. We will have power cuts on a regular basis. Everyone in the sector must come together and come up with a plan or we will be in trouble in the coming years,” he said.