No Diesel, thermal powerplants operational; sufficient rainfall to generate hydropower: CEB Chairman

Due to abundant rainfall in the hydro catchment areas, including mini-hydro plants during the past few days to generate 200 million units of electricity, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has decided to stop operating all diesel powerplants, CEB Chairman Vijitha Herath said.

He told the Daily Mirror that a false message was circulating claiming that the third thermal power generator in Norochcholai is temporarily shut down for maintenance.

With the onset of the south-western monsoon in the country, the Thambapanni Windmill contributes two million units which are 10% of the total capacity of electricity to the national grid, the Chairman said.

"There is a cost of Rs.30 to generate one unit of electricity using diesel powerplants but to generate hydropower costs only Rs.2. With sufficient rainfall in all parts of the country including the catchment areas, the CEB can generate electricity more than the required capacity. Therefore, the CEB has halted the Norochcholai thermal power plant's functionality to cut down unnecessary expenses," he said.

Accordingly, the CEB managed to save Rs.5,000 million through this process.

"The electricity demand had come down due to the COVID pandemic in the country, but the supply of renewable energy has increased.  Therefore, there is no need to operate the diesel, fuel and coal power plants despite the abundance of hydropower," the CEB Chairman said.

"There is no eight-hour powercut due to shutting down diesel, fuel and coal power plants. There are no technical or maintenance issues that hold operating them," the Chairman said.

The Chairman also added that there is a diesel mafia behind these false rumours and people are advised to rely on only constructive information and not to panic over those rumours. (Chaturanga Samrawickrama)