Rains to continue, up to 100mm, till Tuesday: Met Dept
Most parts of the country received rain yesterday, with more showers forecast during the next few days, but not sufficient to overcome the present arid conditions, said the Meteorology (Met) Dept.
Met. Dept Deputy Director, Anusha Warnasuriya said the rains will remain throughout the week and will become heavier until Tuesday.
She explained that, though they expect rainfall of over 100 mm in certain areas, the arid atmosphere will remain. Colombo too will receive rain from today until Tuesday.
“Dryness is a result of lesser amount of rainfall during last year, which reduction of water cannot be gained by the showers. However, a reduction in the high temperature can occur,” she said.
Ms Warnasuriya also said and keep them to such a temperature, we can save up to 50 MW. That’s why we are requesting offices to do this at least for the next three months.”
Phasing out energy-sapping incandescent bulbs is another step under active consideration. Dr. Batagoda revealed that, according to CEB estimates, these bulbs waste 95% of electricity supplied. Though the majority of the population have shifted to LED and CFL bulbs, it is estimated that about 20% of the population in the country were still using incandescent bulbs. “We will be appealing to households still using those bulbs to switch off as many of those lights as they can,” the Ministry Secretary stated. The CEB is hoping to bring down 1 million LED bulbs and distribute them among those using incandescent bulbs, free of charge if necessary. The aim is to exchange the LED bulbs for incandescent ones, removing them completely from the power sector.
The situation, however, continues to be extremely delicate, given the electricity grid's over- reliance on thermal power, particularly the breakdown- prone Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai. Unit 1 of the plant, which had been out of action since last October, was reconnected to the national grid last Sunday (15). While the unit has a capacity of 300 MW, CEB officials stated that it was currently being operated at 50%, while the Northeastern inter-monsoon condition and an additional wave-tied turbulence in the Northeast, resulted in the increase of the rain.
She said the highest rainfall on Friday was 62.5 mm in the Aralagamwila area in Polonnaruwa, while other areas which received rain were Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Anuradhapura. engineers make further technical adjustments. The unit is expected to be fully operational by early next week.
Thermal power (coal and oil) currently generates 85% of the country’s electricity needs. The Government insists there is no chance of island-wide powercuts. CEB engineers though, say such a scenario is inevitable if Lakvijaya was to suddenly lose two of its three units, resulting in the national grid losing 600 MW. Power outages can also be expected if the 300 MW Kerawalapitiya plant and one unit at Lakvijaya plant are knocked out. “At present, we simply don’t have the water to generate hydropower to meet such a shortfall,” CEB Engineers’ Union President Athula Wanniarachchi, disclosed.
According to Mr Wanniarachchi, purchasing emergency power, coupled with additional fuel costs, would cost the State as much as Rs 50 billion for just six months. He claimed these funds could have been saved if the Government had properly implemented the CEB’s Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP).
“The Rs 50 billion cost won’t be paid by the Government. The cost would ultimately be passed onto the consumer through higher electricity tariffs, indirect taxes or by slashing funds to some other sector such as Health or Education,” he opined.