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Tuesday, 25 January 2022 01:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Charumini de Silva
The energy crisis has intensified against the depleting foreign exchange, whilst the Government is grappling to provide uninterrupted power supply with no stable solutions to the escalating demand.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday called for an emergency meeting with top Ministers to find solutions for the ongoing energy crisis. The meeting was attended by Power Minister Gamini Lokuge, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
Following the meeting, Minister Lokuge assured that there would be no power sheds in the future as decisions with regard to solutions to the crisis had been taken.
Cabraal said foreign exchange required for fuel purchases has been approved.
Gammanpila reassured that the Central Bank had agreed to provide foreign exchange for two shipments with each carrying 37,500 tons of petrol and diesel. The Treasury has also been directed to provide Rs. 93 billion to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to part settle dues to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
“The diesel stocks will be sufficient for eight days and petrol for six days. You cannot justify the operations with the quantities available, as we are faced with a foreign exchange crisis and thus, we no longer have the capacity to stockpile. But the Government has and will do it to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply,” he explained.
Gammanpila also said the Sapugaskanda oil refinery would resume operations on 28 January and that by 2 February it would be in a position to produce furnace oil which could be used for power generation purposes.
Separately, CEB Acting CEO Dr. Susantha Perera said there would be a power shortage of 150 MW from today, whilst noting that the Kelanitissa Power Station only has diesel to last until Thursday (27) and that if fuel is not supplied in time, then the power shortage will increase to 500 MW.
He also said that the repairs of the Norochcholai Power Plant would be further delayed by two more days and that it would only be able to contribute to the national grid from 30 January.
Given the circumstances, the CEB Chief announced that they would have to go for a scheduled power outage from 25 January to 4 February, adding that if the situation aggregates they would have to shed power to two areas simultaneously.
In a related development, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake argued that it would not be necessary to shed power following the Government assurances on fuel and foreign exchange.
“We received a letter requesting to shed power for 11 days, but the commission takes decisions based on data. If we find that there is sufficient supply, then we will not permit it. However, we will announce the decision on Tuesday (today),” he said, adding that they do not allow blanket permits to any such request.
The PUCSL Chief noted that the hours long power outages ranging from 1.5-nine hours requested by the CEB, would sabotage economic activities and that it would be worse than not having foreign exchange.
Ratnayake also noted that private and public organisations that have idle backup power generators had expressed their willingness to contribute to the national grid given the crisis.
Noting that if Norochcholai was up and running without any breakdowns, he said a situation of this magnitude would have been averted. “Now that the Treasury and Government have intervened to solve the matter, we are optimistic that this situation will not last for longer,” he explained.
Ratnayake warned that the PUCSL would “not hold responsibility” on legal repercussions that may arise due to unauthorised statements made with regards to power interruptions.
“I urge the general public not to get confused with statements issued by various unauthorised people and organisations. If they encounter any power outage without PUCSL prior approval, the public can take them to task,” he stressed.
Ratnayake said all details of authorised power outages were updated on the PUCSL website and its social media platform Facebook.
