Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachichi today said that there won’t be power cuts or tariff increases in the near future.

Addressing a media conference, Minister Wanniarachchi said that although there were breakdowns at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant (LCPP) at Puttalam, Kelanitissa, Kerawalapitiya, Canyon power stations depriving 655 MWs to the national grid there won’t be power cuts or tariff increases in the near future. 
“The CEB’s total power generation is 3,400 MWs a day. Therefore, despite the breakdowns at these plants we can manage the situation without power cuts or tariff increase,” she said.

“We do not know exactly why the LCPP has broken down many times ever since it commissioned in March 2011. We have a suspicion that there might be a defect at designing, construction or machinery as there was no reliability test as required before the commissioning of the plant in 2011. The commissioning had to be expedited as Sri Lanka was experiencing a major drought during that time,” Minister Wanniarachchi stressed.

She also said that Sri Lankan government would demand the contractor China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to identify and rectify it without burdening Sri Lanka. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)