SL hydro power generation drops with reservoirs drying up

Sri Lanka’s hydro power generation has come down by half of its capacity as the hydro power reservoirs are flowing dry at present due to dry weather conditions in the up country.

The water levels at Castlereagh and Maussakele reservoirs have dropped to 118 ft and 75 ft respectively from 155 ft and 120 ft reducing the capacity of four hydro power plants fed by these reservoirs by 50 per cent from the total capacity of 300 Mega Watts, engineers in charge of power stations said.

Generators of Wimalasurendra, Laxapana, New Laxapana, and Polpitiya hydro power plants are running with the use of water from these two reservoirs and those plants are operating in reduced speed which can cause power outages or damage people’s electrical appliances, they warned.

To avoid this occurrence, the CEB has to manage power supply and demand by load shedding, (power cuts in accordance with fluctuations of these two factors in various areas in different times), they explained.

Kotmale generation is expected to be halted to conserve water for irrigation after the Maha season ends. Only Victoria is expected to continue its operations from mid-March.

Sri Lanka could face four -hour power cuts, blackouts in large parts of the grid and water shortages in Colombo if the CEB is not allowed to continue one hour load shedding, CEB engineers warned.

Avoiding one hour power cuts is leading to a further drop in  water storage and it is no longer feasible to continue to the usage of hydro reservoirs to avoid power cuts, they said. (Bandula)