When God gives rainfall and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation gives fuel, electricity will be supplied without any disruptions, the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), M.M.C. Ferdinando pledged.
Speaking at a press conference the CEB Chairman stated that when the country receives a diesel ship, the power plants can be soon activated, which will reduce the duration of power cuts.
The CEB Chairman M.M.C. Fedinando stated that Sri Lanka’s hydro electricity generation has dropped, and while Sri Lanka has power plants of a capacity of over 1100 megawatts that run on fuel, the CEB does not have fuel for them, and only get diesel and furnace oil intermittently.
“CEB cannot generate more than 300 megawatts from our hydro power plants. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has promised to provide us with diesel. CEB will be able to reduce the duration of the power cuts when we receive the fuel we need on the 2nd of April.
We will be able to reduce the power cuts per day to less than 4 hours, however only if we continue to get diesel and furnace oil without any interruption ” he stated.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says that the Lanka IOC agreed to provide 6,000 MT of Diesel required for electricity generation.
Only the Kelanithissa Combined Cycle Power Station is currently active amidst the shortage of Diesel, according to the CEB.
All other Thermal Power Plants that run on Diesel and Furnace Oil are currently inactive, Additional General Manager Andrew Nawamani, the CEP Spokesperson said.
However, one generator of the Canyon Reservoir was reactivated, he noted.According to Andrew Nawamani, 810 MW of power is generated from the Norochcholai Power Plant.
When inquired whether the CEB is taking any future steps regarding the Cabinet of Ministers granting permission for direct fuel purchases, the Minister of Power said that they need a permit to bring down fuel from the Ministry of Energy, and that relevant permit has not been received yet.
Although the Minister of Energy Gamini Lokuge has said that they indeed will receive a permit, the CEB Chairman stated that they did not call for tenders.
“A supplier came forward and said that they will bring down crude oil to Sri Lanka and take payment in rupees.
When that was done the cabinet of ministers said that they cannot give us the permit. We said that we have no objections and we wrote to the chairman of the Ceylon petroleum corporation asking them to make the purchase and that we will make the payments for it,” The CEB Chairman explained.
Accordingly, a previous Cabinet paper mentioned that the CEB was granted permission to bring down Diesel from a company, which subsequently refused due to the Ukraine issue, the same day a letter is released with the mention of a Rajapaksa member regarding a South African Company, which agrees to provide the diesel.
This is followed by the Cabinet paper being resubmitted, which highlights the agreement to purchase diesel at Rs. 188, which results in CEYPETCO selling the aforementioned diesel at Rs. 177 while the LIOC sells the diesel at Rs. 203. The usual tax on a liter of diesel is about Rs. 21, which led to about Rs. 12 profit.Answering these allegations, the Minister of Power stated that the Cabinet paper was not submitted as it was received, however a technical evaluation was conducted and was presented to the Cabinet, that led to the Ministers of he Cabinet deciding that if the fuel is to be purchased, it should be done by the CPC as to not result in a loss
