Archives

The four hydro-power turbines of the Mahaweli system face total shut-down if the rains do not come within the next few days, the Ministry of Land Irrigation Power and Energy said yesterday, indicating the necessity for even longer power cuts soon.

The water levels have dropped to the lowest level since their commissioning. The Victoria Reservoir which has a capacity of 210 mega watts has dropped to 6.4 per cent, Kotmale 201 MW is now at 3.4 p.c., Randenigala is at 16.1 p.c. and Samanalawewa is at 8.3 p.c.

The stabilised capacity of power generation both hydro and thermal is 1135 MW. Current generation is down to 335 MW or just 22 p.c. the Ministry said.

The utilisation of electricity from the power grid for air conditioning, illumination of show cases, name boards and carnivals however continues unabated the Ministry said. The need of the hour is for the private sector to fall in line voluntarily to save available power to enable an equitable and orderly distribution till the end of the present crisis.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager