By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): As a consequence of the governments’ decision of finalizing the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), it has been planned to enhance power supply in several provinces mainly Southern Province using available resources.
Electricity and Energy Minister Mr. Kanchana Wijesekera says that the methodology and the proposed time frame for the restructuring of the Electricity Board is finalized.
The new Electricity Act will be submitted to Parliament for approval by the end of May and to establish a bureau to coordinate the restructuring programme.
The aim is to secure the support of development organisations such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, USAID, and JICA for the process and the restructuring programme,
The ministry is set to complete the financial and human resource audits, and to complete the restructuring process by the end of October 2023.
Under this set up the Minister of Power and Energy together with the CEB top management ,CEB took a decision to make use of CEB owned 1MWx30Nos diesel generators installed at Kolonnawa and Thulhiriya Grid Sub Station (GSS0_by shifting them to southern part of the Island to address the power supply challenges faced by the people in the area.
The technical feasibility identified the most suitable location for these 30 generators of 30 MW capacity as Hambantota Grid Substation enabling it to operate all 30 generators at one location.
The decision of shifting the 30 generators to Hambantota Grid Substation has been put into practice and ultimately, it was materialized successfully on 31 March 2023.
The entire work from planning to commission was done by CEB staff within a short time span of 33 days demonstrating excellent professionalism, from the top engineers to field technical employees.
All worked in unison to the accomplishment of this particular assignment. Vigilant leadership, exemplary delegation, dedicated supervision and professional execution are important traits CEB staff exhibited during this exercise under the leadership of General Manager CEB.
This is a true example, where CEB demonstrated its capability and capacity successfully on challenging engineering executions officials’ said. .
In managing the electricity supply to the entire country with given resources, one of the major challenges faced by CEB is to supply electricity around the clock to the southern part of the island in dry time periods, owing to lack of generation in southern region and constraints in the transmission network.
