Govt. switches on power plan in P’ment

By Ashwin Hemmathagama 

– Our Lobby Correspondent

Undeterred by Opposition members who carried torches into Parliament Power Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya yesterday delivered a to-do list in a special statement with a slew of fresh measures including fast tracking the Sampur power plant, purchasing private power plants and monitoring spot purchases of oil for thermal power generation. 

In an exhaustive speech to the House Siyambalapitiya recapped the power generation history of Sri Lanka and outlined new measures taken by his ministry over the last six months. The Minister also gave a blow by blow account of the recent blackouts along with the reasons, which ruled out sabotage. 

Assuring the nation of an uninterrupted power supply throughout the year at an affordable price, Minister said: “We have prepared these plans with the intention of meeting the current and the future electricity demand. There are no hidden agendas. We need to further strengthen the Ceylon Electricity Board. This is not the initial step to of privatising the CEB or a part of it. I have the Government support to execute these plans.”

He acknowledged the power outages were primarily caused by technical issues of the Norochcholai power plant, which took three to four days to cool down and delayed resumption of round the clock power. He also noted that the subsequent explosion of a transformer had not caused a blackout because hydropower had been used to offset distribution shortages while engineers had been able to make repairs within a few hours. 

The special ministerial committee appointed by President Sirisena had handed over their report to the Head of State on Wednesday morning, he added. CEB officials have also been appointed to monitor crucial areas in the grid to avert another power outage and a steering committee has been appointed to carry out maintenance efficiently.



“As future suggestions I would like to recommend the establishment of “Emergency Administrative Units,” establish an agreement with the Government of Qatar to purchase natural gas, build a thermal or natural gas power plant near the Galle or Hambantota harbours and build twelve solar and wind power plants in Mannar, Pooneryn, Mullativu, Kokilai and Vadamarachchi,” he told lawmakers. 

The 15 recommendations also included plans for the State to purchase three private power plants in Ambilipitiya, Puttalum and Matara that have completed their contracts with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), build a 100MW emergency power plant, fast track hydro projects under construction and the Sampur coal power plant.   

Having established an emergency management committee and recommissioning a retired General Manager to keep a tab on electrical system maintenance Minister also plans to connect all types of generators to the grid.

 “We will start maintaining adequate fuel stocks. ACE Power Embilipitiya, Heladanavi in Puttalam, and ACE Power Matara will be bought. We will purchase power from private sector held generators during the forthcoming drought. A natural gas driven power station will be established in Kerawalapitiya or in Hambantota. The Government will sign an agreement with Qatar to purchase natural gas. A separate power station operational from furnace oil and natural gas will be established either in Galle Port or Hambantota,” added the Minister.

The  Government also plans to fast-track the construction and the commissioning of Morogolla Hydropower Station (31Mw), Broadlands Hydropower Station (35Mw), Uma Oya Hydropower Station (120Mw), and Seethawaka Hydropower Station (20Mw). “We will appoint a Cabinet Sub-committee to look into the Sampur Coal Power Plant. We will re-plan the transmission network. An island wide renewable energy parks will be established. Initially 12 parks will be established in Mannar, Punarine, Wadamarachchi, Mualithuvu, and Kokilai.  Net metering system will be introduced to 1 million domestic consumers where 1,000 Mw will be added to the network. We will try to reduce the number of days taken to recommission the Norochcholai Power Station after a sudden trip-off,” added Minister Siyambalapitiya.

 Looking at the national demand for electricity and the capacity Minister also confirmed the Parliament that there are 199 power generators are there in the country capable of generating 3,932Mws. “There are 17 large scale hydropower stations, six fuel powered power stations, one coal powered power station, one wind powered power station under state ownership. The private sector commands 14 small hydro power stations owned by the private sector, six fuel powered power stations, 15 wind powered power stations, and nine different power stations including solar,” confirmed the Minister.