POWER CUTS

60 MINUTES IN THE MORNING 30 MINUTES AT NIGHT Except areas in Colombo 1 to 15

The Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy yesterday announced a 60-minute daily countrywide power cut in the morning and a 30-minute power cut at night, except in the Colombo city limits, from yesterday upto Friday.

The power cuts are being imposed to manage the power supply in the aftermath of the Norochcholai Power Plant breaking down

Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told a media briefing that temporary power cuts would have to be imposed as a means of bridging the gap in the aftermath of Norochcholai power plant breaking down.

“We have lost 900 MW of power as a result of the breakdown and we will have to impose power cuts as a temporary measure,” he said.

“We will generate more hydro power using the major reservoirs with water from the Mahaweli River and make up for the loss at Norochcholai,” the minister said while highlighting the fact that this move helped revise the earlier plan to interrupt power for two and a half hours during day and one hour during the night. He said power will now be interrupted for 60 minutes during the

We will be able to stop the power cuts by Friday if the rains continue giving us the opportunity to generate more hydro power We have lost 900 MW of power as a result of the breakdown and we will have to impose power cuts as a temporary measure

day and 30 minutes in the night. “We will be able to stop the power cuts by Friday if the rains continue giving us the opportunity to generate more hydro power,” he added.

The times of the power cut varies from area to area.

Accordingly power interruption times in areas where factories are located are fixed in a way to ensure that work is not disturbed. The situation is the same with regard to other areas including airports, ports, etc.

Meanwhile, it was announced that a team headed by Professor Janaka Ekanayake of the Peradeniya University will look into the causes of breakdown at the Norochcholai power plant. It is expected to return to normal by Thursday.