Power cuts made official with new timetable

Colombo (News 1st): Unofficial power cuts experienced in most parts of Sri Lanka have now been made official with a set timetable. The Ceylon Electricity Board said the power supply will be interrupted between 08:30 am to 11:30 am or 11:30 am to 02:30 pm or 02:30 pm to 05:30 pm. In addition, in the evening the power supply will be interrupted from 06:30 pm to 07:30 pm or 07:30 pm to 08:30 pm or 08:30 pm to 09:30 pm. According to the CEB, these power-cuts will take place at over 50 grid sub-stations which are set up across the country. A spokesperson for the CEB said the average electricity requirement in the afternoon is around 2350 Mega Watts, however, at present, they can only supply 1950 Mega Watts. He went on to note, in the evening the requirement is around 2600 Mega Watts and the CEB can only supply 2300 Mega Watts. However, speaking to News 1st, Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy Suren Batagoda said the Ministry had not granted permission to the CEB for power-cuts. He said leading industrialists have been advised to switch to their private generators when the electricity requirement is high. Ravi Karunanayake, the Minister of Power and Energy said this situation will only prevail for another 07 to 08 days and if electricity is used wisely, there would be no need for power cuts. He said the Ministry will not resort to emergency purchases as it would only be an advantage to the suppliers.