Minister suspends power cuts, wants uninterrupted supply

Power and Energy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had revoked the decision taken by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to impose two-hour power cuts daily, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.

CEB Officials said that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had suspended the supply of fuel to the Kerawalapitiya Power Plant on Monday (3) as the credit limit to supply fuel to the CEB had exceeded.

Following the credit situation, the CEB had earlier decided to impose two-hour power cuts daily from yesterday.

However, with subject to the approval of the Cabinet, Minister Amaraweera instructed the CPC to continue fuel supply to the CEB.

Accordingly, the CEB revoked its decision to impose power cuts for two hours daily and instead took steps to provide the uninterrupted power supply.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the CEB said without the support of the Thermal Power Plants, it was not possible to provide continuous supply for them to fulfil the demand.

He said that the hydropower generation in the reservoirs around the power stations would be expedited due to the increase of the demand.

Due to the new development with CPC cutting supply to the CEB, thermal power plants would not be able to generate enough electricity to meet the demand, the official said.

“If the situation continued a serious situation will arise as the CEB will not be able to provide continuous electricity supply and the CEB will be compelled to impose daily power cuts,” the official said.

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