Extended power cuts not required until next January - PUCSL

The chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) says there is no need to impose extended power interruptions until next January.

Addressing an event, Mr. Janaka Ratnayake said the two generating units at the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai, which suffered a breakdown recently, are expected to be reconnected to the national grid over the next two weeks.

“We thought we would have to resort to extended power cuts by the end of October after running of out coal stocks, but we see now that procurement of coal is possible.”

Sri Lanka is experiencing daily power interruptions of two hours and 20 minutes at present.

According to the PUCSL chairman, the 3rd Unit at the Norochcholai power plant is expected to be reconnected to the national grid by next Monday after repairs. The other generating unit, which suspended its operations for maintenance, will be reconnected to the national grid by next week, Mr. Ratnayake said further.

Speaking on the filling station in Colombo 07, owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) which was revealed to have been engaged in short delivery, the PUCSL chairman said the establishment has earned approximately Rs. 500,000 per day through this malpractice.

On September 20, two out of three Octane 92 petrol dispensers were sealed off at this filling station after it was found that the two fuel dispensers in question had been issuing 1.2% less per litre of octane 92 petrol (Rs. 5.40 per litre).

This was detected and sealed off during a joint exercise carried out by the PUCSL, the Industrial Technology Institute of Sri Lanka and the Department of Measurement Units, Standards and Services.