Colombo (LNW): The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has urged the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to provide a revised electricity tariff proposal by 18th October, due to discrepancies in the CEB’s assumptions.
The PUCSL highlighted deviations in the CEB’s forecasted demand data for September and October 2023 compared to actual figures, according to reports.
The CEB’s predictions on hydro storage for October and November 2023 also differed from current figures, with inflow for early October exceeding estimates.
Additionally, while the CEB’s submissions in May and September 2023 showed differing forecasts for coal dispatch, the PUCSL found the impact of coal dispatch reduction inconsistent with recent data, particularly given a drop in coal price between the two submissions.
In a letter addressed to the CEB’s General Manager, the Director General of PUCSL highlighted that while the CEB had projected a demand of 44.70 GWh/day for September 2023 and an average of 42.88 GWh/day for October-December 2023, the actual demand was 41.01 GWh/day for September and 41.30 GWh/day for October.
Regarding hydro-power, the CEB’s predictions for starting hydro storage levels for October and November 2023 were 503 GWh and 635 GWh respectively, but current hydro storage stands at 668 GWh, with an inflow of 314 GWh from 1st to 12th October, significantly surpassing the estimates, the letter disclosed.
The CEB’s coal dispatch forecasts for October-December 2023 showed disparities between their May and September 2023 submissions, and exhibits a more significant reduction in demand in comparison to the coal dispatch decline, it added, emphasising that with coal prices dropping from 68.6 LKR/kg in May to 52.6 LKR/kg in September, the coal dispatch reduction does not align with the updated data.
