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Power generation: CEB struggles to buy coal

12 Mar 2022

 
  • Dollars needed to import 240,000 MT coal before April deadline
  • LC open for one shipment waiting to be loaded at Port of Vanino
  • Another shipment postponed
  • Adequate coal stocks till August: LCC
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is struggling to open Letters of Credit (LCs) for another four shipments carrying a total of 240,000 MT of coal to operate the country’s only coal power plant in Norochcholai for this season, according to the CEB. The Board has established one LC on Friday (11) to clear a shipment carrying 60,000 MT that reached the Russian Port of Vanino at the last moment while it had also postponed another shipment scheduled for this season to bring down next season, hoping the financial situation would return back to normal. When contacted, CEB Spokesman Additional General Manager Andrew Nawamuni said: “With the greatest difficulty, we opened two LCs on Friday.” “We have four more shipments to come for this season and for those we have to open LCs. It’s going to be a tough task,” he told The Sunday Morning. According to Nawamuni, the Lanka Coal Company (LCC) is acting as a mediator to bring down the required coal to Sri Lanka, but the financial responsibility lies with the CEB and it has to pay for the shipments. When asked about the shipment stuck in Russia, Nawamuni said: “That was cleared last week.” According to the CEB, the ship reached the Russian Port of Vanino to pick up a coal shipment last Tuesday (8) and they expected to accept the shipment within five days. However, the payments had only been made on Friday (11). Elaborating further on the situation, Nawamuni said: “We are postponing one shipment for next season hoping that the situation will be better.” He said the Board was expecting four shipments with 240,000 MT for this season. When asked whether the shipments were enough till April this year, Nawamuni said: “We are ordering it in such a way that it’s just enough till we order for the next season. We don’t store excess coal.” Meanwhile, when The Sunday Morning contacted LCC Chairman/Managing Director Jagath Perera last week, he said the company had managed to secure a coal stock of 1.7 million MT out of the total 2.28 million of the total requirement for the season, and that the company was expecting 38 shipments at present. According to the LCC, Sri Lanka has sufficient coal reserves till August this year. Coal has become one of the main electricity generating methods at present, adding a total of 800 MW to the national grid from the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant.  


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