Power Ministry cautions CEB on hydropower generation

• Wants water in reservoirs used carefully as dry season expected from March

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has been asked to exercise caution when using water for power generation despite there being a considerable volume of water in reservoirs, the Power and Energy Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Power and Energy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has advised the CEB to show such caution due to the onset of the dry season in March and the current generation of power being at maximum capacity. Not doing so could result in power cuts during the latter part of March.

He added that a power shortage that the country may experience in the middle of the year will be due to the fact that power plants have not been constructed since 2014. The Minister also said that issues in implementing short-term generation projects run as far back as 2013 between the CEB, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.

He added that the current generation of power at maximum capacity was due to the CEB making significant losses during the past year while also fielding significant arrears due to purchasing fuel for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and receiving power from the private sector.

The remarks were made at a discussion reviewing the progress of power generation held at the ministry yesterday, where Amaraweera also said that priority should be given to wind, solar and clean coal power generation by next year.