• Matugama power plant also shutdown last night

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama   

The Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Station (165MW) and Kelanitissa power station (115 MW) were completely shutdown last night due to a lack of diesel fuel, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.   

`They said due to the shutdown of the power stations, a total of 280 megawatts of electricity supply was lost to the national grid.   

Although, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) promised to provide fuel stocks, the CEB has not received any.   

The Kelanitissa power station was stopped after the air was sucked into the fuel lines.     

Meanwhile, Matugama CEB plant, which generates about 12.8MW of electricity, made a forced shutdown at 8.44pm yesterday, due to the lack of diesel fuel stocks, the CEB said.