Three-hour power cut in several Districts from August 16 unless power purchased urgently, says Minister

• CEB had planned to generate hydro-power from the Samanala Wewa reservoir until October 15
• Power will have to be purchased from Ace power plants in Matara and Embilipitiya and V Power Holdings  

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera   

A 3-hour power cut will have to be imposed in RHe said the CEB could have provided an uninterrupted power supply without purchasing supplementary power if the water in the Samanala Wewa reservoir was not released for agricultural purposes.   

The Minister said the CEB had planned to generate hydro-power from the Samanala Wewa reservoir until October 15 and pointed out that due to the release of water, hydro-power generation would be possible only till August 15.   

“We have planned to release water through power generation at 3.5 MCM from the Samanala Wewa reservoir today, tomorrow and the day after. 2.5 MCM will be released for five days from Friday. Power generation from the Samanala Wewa reservoir will be completely halted by August 15. We will have to impose a 3-hour power cut - one hour daytime and two hours at night - in Ratnapura, Galle, Matara and Hambantota Districts after August 15 unless power purchases are made,” he said.   

The government is not hesitant to purchase supplementary power needed to maintain a 24-hour uninterrupted supply of power and added that power will have to be purchased from Ace power plants in Matara and Embilipitiya and V Power Holdings. 

 
He said 50 MW had already been added to the grid through government-owned diesel generators in line with Samanala Wewa power generation. “30MW plant is installed in Hambantota and 30 MW in Mathugama,” he said.   

The Minister said power purchase requirements would be reduced if the construction of the new Polpitiya – Hambantota Transmission Line could be completed soon. “We have arranged a meeting on August 11. If we can agree, the power connection can be given within four days,” he said.   atnapura, Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts from August 16 unless supplementary power was purchased, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said yesterday.   

The Minister told Parliament that hydro-power generation from the Samanala Wewa reservoir would be possible only till August 15 due to the release of water for agricultural purposes.    

• The government is not hesitant to purchase supplementary power needed to maintain a 24-hour uninterrupted supply of power