CEB can procure 'interim' power to avert power crisis: PUCSL
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has granted approval to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to procure electricity from several sources, as an interim measure to avert a power crisis predicted to affect the country in 20182019.
The PUCSL’s decision was conveyed this week to the CEB, consequent to the submission of its Long Term Generation Plan (LTGP).
The PUCSL has, however, only approved the 2017-2020 part of the CEB’s generation plan, officially known as Least Cost Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LCLTGEP) 2017-2036.
The Commission has cited several reasons for its refusal to approve the plan in full, highlighting issues including data provided by the CEB being insufficient, as well as failure to justify the submission of a new plan (2017-2036), when the Commission’s earlier directive had been to submit a plan for 2015-2034.
In making its decision to approve only the initial four-year section of the plan, the PUCSL has considered the CEB’s acknowledgment that the commissioning of the Sampur coalfired power plant- originally scheduled to be completed by 2020, will now be delayed, following the Government's decision to convert it to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
“Thus, considering the gravity of the situation in the 2017-2020 period, the Commission would consider power plants identified for the period 2017-2020 in the LCLTGEP as an alternative to the delay in Sampur Coal Power Plant, as part of the LCLTGEP 2015-2034,” stated a letter dated August 3 from PUCSL Chairman Saliya Mathew to CEB General Manager (GM) M.C. Wickramasekara.
The 130 MW Uma Oya and the 35 MW Broadlands Hydropower Projects fall within the 2017-2020 period of the CEB plan. Approval has also been granted to procure electricity from the proposed 170 MW Furnace Oil-Fired Power Plant in Hambantota and the 300 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya.
Mr. Wickramasekara said no decision had yet been made whether any of the power plants will come under Independent Power Producers (IPPs). “The CEB and the Government have to decide on that after discussions,” he stressed.
The PUCSL’s decision, however, has come in for criticism from the CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU). Its President Athula Wanniarachchi claimed the move would create a bad precedent for future Governments, as it may encourage them to wait until a power crisis appears before moving to procure power plants as a stop-gap measure. “The end result will be high cost of electricity,” he stressed.