- 7-8 hour power cut if diesel is not supplied to power plants
- A fuel price formula for the next cabinet
- Sapugaskanda refinery should not have been closed
- Ceypetco is still bearing a Rs. 1613 million daily loss
Energy and Power Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in Parliament today that a proposal to implement a pricing formula to keep the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Ceypetco) and Ceylon IOC companys’ fuel prices at the same price would be tabled in the Cabinet next week.
That is answering a question raised by the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is still losing Rs. 1613 million daily and at present a liter of kerosene is being sold at Rs. 85 sustaining a loss of more than Rs. 200 per liter, the Minister said.
The Minister explained that the government is bearing that loss considering the fishermen and the low income earners.
When the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased fuel prices on the 28th, the dollar was around Rs. 330, the Minister said.
Although there is enough fuel in the country at present, there is a problem with the supply of diesel as there is a breakdown in Norochcholai power plant and more diesel has to be supplied to the other power plants to generate electricity, the Minister said. He also said that the government has taken a policy step to supply diesel to power plants.
Otherwise, the power outage will have to be extended to 7-8 hours and since it cannot be done, the power cuts are maintained at 3 hours and 20 minutes by supplying diesel to the power plants, said Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.
He expressed confidence that the Norochcholai power plant would be restored by next Sunday evening and that steps have been taken in collaboration with the Mahaweli Ministry to generate more electricity from the Mahaweli reservoirs.
The Minister further stated that the closure of the Sapugaskanda refinery should not have been done.
