Power crisis: 

PUCSL accuses CEB of negligence

By Rukshana Rizwie

Countering allegations by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) of an energy crisis, the Public Utilities Commision of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) says there is an adequate energy supply to the national grid.

Chairman of the national regulator Saliya Mathews stated in a letter to the CEB that restrictions imposed at Rantambe (49 megawatts) and the failure of two 250 MVA transformers do not give rise to an energy crisis.

“The transmission licensee (CEB) has the option of procuring power from hydro and thermal power from the CEB-operated plants and from independent power producers with the available capacity of 3,871 megawatts,” he said.

The PUCSL was of the opinion that the failure of the two transformers was due to the negligence of maintenance work by the CEB. Spokesperson for the CEB, Sulakshana Jayawardana said the failure of the two 250 MVA (220kv and 132kv) transformers and the restrictions imposed for the discharge of water to the Rantambe power station from the reservoir have caused a shortage of energy capacity on the national grid.

Engineers at the Rantambe power station told the Sunday Observer that they had to confine the use of water for power generation temporarily due to the prevailing drought.

According to instructions from the National Water Management Secretariat, the water supply has to be prioritised for irrigation, drinking water and domestic purposes before discharging it for electricity generation. CEB Chairman Anura Wijayapala said the delay in inter-monsoonal rains and the spells prevailing dry weather were the reasons for this. The CEB or the regulator cannot forecast these situations, he said. The daily use of electricity had gone up to 42 GWhr from 30 GWhr in February due to the increased use in households. The PUCSL also noted Cabinet sanction was sought on the grounds that the energy situation was due to the prevailing drought, while the power purchase was merely a contingency measure to prevent islandwide power failures.

An authoritative source at the Ministry of Power and Energy said there were disparities in the reasons provided but the power purchase was pertinent due to the several islandwide power failures.