PUCSL approves 100 MW emergency power purchase for six months

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) yesterday approved the purchase of 100 MW in emergency power for six months from today (18) on a conditional basis.

The approval of PUCSL has been granted to the transmission licensee under section 43(4)(c)(ii) of Sri Lanka Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009 (as amended) to proceed with the procurement process for adding a generation capacity of 100 MW in the southern area on short-term basis subjected to three main conditions.

These conditions include; 1) the adding generation capacity shall operate on a merit order basis and the transmission licensee shall demonstrate that the power plants operated on merit order through an independent dispatch audit at the end of the Power Purchase Agreement period, 2) Kotmale-New Polpitiya 220 kV line shall be energised before 31 August 2024 and 3) the procurement of above supplementary power shall be done on the least cost basis.

PUCSL...

The electricity regulator noted that the decision was arrived at after considering several factors including the Cabinet of Ministers declaring an emergency situation pertaining to the decision to release water from Samanalawewa Power Plant for irrigation purposes of downstream cultivations and to procure 100 MW of supplementary power by 15 August for a period of four to six months to avoid planned power shedding at the Cabinet meeting held on 7 August.

In addition, it said that according to information from the Meteorological Department, significant rainfall can be expected only from mid-October 2023 and the release of water for agricultural purposes from Samanalawewa has begun on 8 August and the storage level of the Samanalawewa Reservoir has recorded as 2.6G Wh (1.9%) as at 06.00hrs on 17 August, which will be totally depleted by 23 August losing a generation capacity of 120 MW to the southern part of the grid.

Further, it notes that energising of New Polpitiya-Hambantota 220 kV transmission line has not totally resolved the capacity shortage in the southern part of the grid as the Kotmale-New Polpitiya 220 kV line which is designed to bring the generation of the Mahaweli Complex and connect the 220 kV network to the southern part of the grid is still not available.

The PUCSL also said the generation of the Laxapana Complex can only be utilised to compensate for the unavailability of generation from the Samanalawewa Power Plant. However, there is a requirement for continuous release of water from the Laxapana complex in order to maintain the minimum requirement for drinking water supply to Colombo until the next inter-monsoon. Therefore, Laxapana Complex cannot be utilised to fully compensate for the unavailability of the Samanalawewa Power Plant.

It added that the water storage as of 17 August was 27.9% and adding supplementary power could support to reduce the hydro dispatch during the course of the year and facilitate the building of sufficient hydro storage (at least 800 GWh) as an initial storage on 1/1/2024.

The expected date of energising the New Polpitiya-Hambantota transmission line shall be 20 August 2023. Unit 2 of Lakvijaya Power Station has already commenced operation after repairs and Unit 3 of Lakvijaya Plant is expected to be operational by 6 November.