Ceylon Electricity Board incurred Rs. 85 Billion loss in 2019

A loss of Rs. 85 billion has been incurred by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in 2019 due to the non-construction of power plants since 2015, CEB officials informed the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on 24 November.

COPE had summoned CEB officials to look into the Lakvijaya Power Plant and its environmental impact. It was also found that Rs. 26 million has to be spent annually to spray water on the fly ash.

When COPE Chairman, Dr. Charitha Herath queried about the mechanism of putting 6,580,000 tonnes of fly ash stored in a sub-yard into good use, the officials said, they are looking at brick production from the stored fly ash.

Dr. Herath directed his attention on the long-term plan of the Lakvijaya Power Plant where it was disclosed that a further 300 megawatts (MW) is to be added to the power plant by 2023 and another 300 MW by 2026.

The CEB officials were questioned as to whether the Lakvijaya Power Plant has the facilities to store and distribute this capacity as stated. The officials stated, it is being experimented on and the expansions will be carried out only if the relevant requirements are met.

COPE stated, the first of the three units operating at the Lakvijaya Power Plant does not operate with the required efficiency and there had been several instances of breakdowns as a result.

Today’s (26) COPE sitting would be held online using Zoom.  Water pollution in the Kelani River is scheduled to be discussed during the sitting.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By Gagani Weerakoon and Methmalie Dissanayake)