Govt to purchase private power | Sunday Observer

Govt to purchase private power

23 October, 2016

Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, Dr. Suren Batagoda, told the Sunday Observer that the Ministry hopes to increase the reserve power margin in the system to 600 megawatts, so that the country will not experience a total power failure if Norochcholai falters.

“We intend purchasing 100 megawatts of thermal power from the Heladhanavi Power Station and 25 megawatts more from the Ace Matara Power Station within the next two months, this will add 125 megawatts in the reserve, we will increase that capacity by going into few more agreements in the coming months,” he said.

The Heladhanavi Power Station is a 100 megawatt fuel oil-run power station which was operated by Heladhanavi Limited, a subsidiary of Hemas Holdings and decomissioned in 2015 on the request of the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy. The power station comprises six Wartsila 18V46 generation units of 17 MWeach.

The Ace Matara Power Station is a 25 megawatt power station in Matara. During its operations from 2002-2012, the plant utilized four 6.3MW generating units. The plant was decommissioned in 2012 after its 10-year Power Purchase Agreement expired

Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has called on the Ceylon Electricity Board to submit its implementation schedule by the 28th of this month to ensure that there will not be another islandwide power failure.

After approval, the implementation plan will fast track the construction and commissioning of the many power plants that the CEB had listed in its Least Cost Long Term Generation Plan which was conditionally approved by the PUCSL. “Our plan is to add 1200 megawatt of power to the grid and if we can do this on time, we may be able to avert a power crisis,” he said. “We cannot lose time by being idle; the implementation schedule will ensure that we stay on track.”

 

 

 

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