Due to the insufficient supply of fuel oil required for the operations at power plants, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is facing severe difficulties, leading to the occurrence of more power cuts in the future.
Even now, the operations at power plants which use fuel oil have been restricted. The daily amount of fuel oil required to operate power plants Yugadanavi, Sapugaskanda and Bach is around 2,500 metric tonnes, but the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) issues only 1,400 metric tonnes or less of fuel oil daily.
Sri Lanka has a daily demand of 2,100 megawatts of power and the maximum capacity of 60 per cent contributed by hydro-power adds 1,340 megawatts to the national grid. The Norochcholai Power Plant adds 600 megawatts to the national grid.
Accordingly, it is essential to run power plants operated by fuel oil to meet the remaining capacity, or the occurrence of more power cuts could be inevitable. In response, the CEB stated that a discussion will be held today (29) regarding the curbing of daily power cuts as much as possible.
The Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery has resumed its operations, and therefore, it is expected to receive more fuel oil, the Board added.
MIAP
