A looming power crisis is forcing the Ceylon Electricity Board to scramble in search of extraordinary measures to keep lights on in Sri Lanka at a time when the government has stalled the commissioning of new power plants.
Kamani Jayasekara, Deputy General Manager, Transmission and Generation Planning, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) warned that a power crisis in 2018 and 2019 were imminent, certain and unstoppable. “Our peak demand on Wednesday (22) this week was 2,230 megawatts while the supply was 2,800 megawatts with a daily demand of 35 Gwh per day,” she said. “There will be an increase in demand, but as of now we cannot cater to it. By 2018 there’s going to be a deficit of 500 megawatts.”