Duration of power cuts could reduce on Saturday (8): CEB

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) hopes to reduce the duration of power cuts on Saturday night (Jan. 8). The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) agreed to supply stocks of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) for the Sapugaskanda Plant and the Colombo Port Power Station (Barge Mounted Power Plant), during a discussion held on Friday (7), M. R. Ranatunga, the General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board told News 1st. "Accordingly, it is possible to generate around 106 MW of Power at the Sapugaskanda Plant and 60 MW of Power at the Colombo Port Power Station; which means, of the daily requirement, around 150 MW of additional power could be generated by evening," Ranatunga explained. Since the daily demand for electricity is considerably low on Saturdays at times, it would be possible to avoid power cuts that last for extended durations, he added. The power supply to various parts of the country was disrupted for one hour between 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM on Friday night (7) under four stages, due to the shortage of fuel. Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Board has agreed to provide the required dollars to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for the importation of Crude Oil, Sumith Wijesinghe, the Chairman of the CPC told News 1st. "The CEB requested 5000 Metric Tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil for the power generation at the Sapugaskanda Plant and another 5000 Metric Tonnes for the Colombo Port Power Station or the Barge. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will be able to supply the required HFO to the CEB, without any hindrance," he noted. According to CPC Chairman, the Ceylon Electricity Board has agreed to provide the dollars required to import fuel stocks on the 4th and 5th of February 2022.