After shutting down one 300 MW generator at the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai on Thursday (22), the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) yesterday (23) stressed that the available coal stocks would now be sufficient until 8 January 2023.
The Sunday Morning last week reported that Sri Lanka’s available coal stocks were sufficient only until around 2 January due to supply delays caused by a backlog for coal embarkation at a South African port.
However, due to the delay in receiving the next scheduled shipment carrying 60,000 MT of coal from South Africa, CEB Chairman Nalinda Illangakoon has decided to shut down one unit at Norochcholai in order to save coal for the other two units until the next shipment arrives, as a contingency plan.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, CEB Spokesman and Additional General Manager Andrew Navamani said that the CEB had decided to shut down one generator on Thursday (22) night and as of Friday, the country had a stock of nearly 100,000 MT of coal.
“We have sufficient coal until 8 January,” Navamani told The Sunday Morning.
When asked about bridging the deficit of 300 MW that will arise after the shutting down of a generator, Navamani stressed that they expected a demand reduction in the coming weeks with the closing down of some offices and factories for Christmas and the new year, adding that due to the expected reduction in demand, the removal of one 300 MW generation unit would not be felt significantly.
In the meantime, according to Navamani, the CEB is currently operating all furnace oil-powered plants, but it is yet to purchase naphtha and fuel oil.
Navamani however stressed that there had been no decision to increase the current duration of power cuts due to the shutting down of a generator.
CEB’s thermal oil power generation capacity of around 604 MW is made up of the Kelanitissa gas turbines of 195 MW, Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Plant of 165 MW, Sapugaskanda Diesel Power Plant of 160 MW, Uthuru Janani Diesel Power Plant of 27 MW, and the Barge Mounted Power Plant of 64 MW.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Lanka Coal Company (LCC) Chairman Shehan Sumanasekara said that the next coal shipment was expected to arrive around 4 January, although it had earlier been expected to arrive on 6 January. Immediate steps would be taken to unload the shipment no sooner it arrived at the port, he said.
Unloading would take around four days to complete, but stocks would be sent to the plant as soon as they were unloaded at the port via the tunnel connected to the power plant, he added.