Furnace Oil shortage puts power plants in crisis

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says the shortage of furnace oil has posed a threat to operating many power plants.

The CEB says that the operations of power plant operating on fuel faces risks, due to the non-availability of furnace oil, and given the situation, the CEB is compelled to increase daily power cuts to three hours.

2,500 MT of furnace oil is necessary for the operation of Yugadanavi, Sapugaskanda, and Bach fuel plants, however, less than 1,400 MT of Furnace Oil is being received at present.

The CEB points out that in this situation the operations of power plants will be limited.

Currently, hydropower production is operating at 60% capacity and 1,340 MW is being added to the system.

The Norochcholai coal power plant will add nearly 600 MW of electricity to the national grid.

The CEB says that the electricity capacity obtained from hydropower and coal power plants is NOT sufficient to meet the electricity requirement of 2100 MW.

The Ceylon Electricity Board also said that since Sapugaskanda Refinery has restarted its operations, it is expected that the furnace oil needed for electricity production will be delivered to the power plants soon.