Colombo, Mar 2: Sri Lanka will face over seven-hour power cuts on Wednesday, the longest to be experienced by the island nation since 1996, officials said, amidst the worst economic crisis in decades.
Sri Lanka is currently reeling under a severe foreign exchange crisis and the government is unable to foot the bill for essential fuel imports to keep the power plants running.
“There will be five and a half hour cuts during the day and two hours later in the nighttime,” Sri Lanka’s Public Utilities Commission top official Janaka Ratnayaka told reporters.
This will be the longest power cuts to be experienced in the island since 1996, officials said.
The power generation has been hit by the foreign exchange crisis as fuel to operate thermal power plants are in short supply. Due to fuel shortage, long fuel queues were seen at retail stations with diesel being limited.
The state fuel entity has sought government assistance to pay for three ships of fuel that arrived last week.
The power sector officials said the hydropower generation capacity in the reservoirs has fallen sharply due to the ongoing drought experience.
Udaya Gammanpila, Energy Minister, said it was hard to find the cash to pay for oil imports and the government must prioritise fuel imports over other items.
Gammanpila said the current stockpile of fuel would last only for four days. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said the President had instructed officials to ensure a continuous supply of power.
Last month, Sri Lanka bought 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel and petrol from India’s oil major Indian Oil Corporation to meet the urgent energy requirements in the economic crisis worsened by depleted foreign reserves.
The delivery of the fuel by India came amidst the announcement of Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to India in a fortnight to formalise India’s economic relief package for the country facing a serious forex crisis.
In January, India announced a USD 900 million loan to Sri Lanka to build up its depleted foreign reserves and for food imports, amid a shortage of almost all essential commodities in the country.
Last month, an agreement to grant Sri Lanka a credit line of USD 500 million for fuel purchases was also sealed which was part of the immediate economic relief package.
Tourism, another key foreign-exchange earner, has also witnessed a lull due to the pandemic. (PTI)
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