The Sri Lankan Central Bank has agreed to pay for coal-carrying ships currently parked at the port. The Central Bank has told the Ceylon Electricity Board that it will give the requisite dollars for the ships, according to the Ceylon Electricity Board officials. According to reports, the coal volumes on the ships will be unloaded as soon as the money is collected. Until next October, the coal from the two ships might be utilised to create electricity at the Norochcholai power station.
However, in the face of the current crisis, the official said that there is a risk that the current daily power cuts will continue if the ships’ coal is not made available.
Electricity Trade Unions have revealed that two ships carrying 120,000 tons of coal have been anchored in Sri Lankan waters for the past few days. Anil Ranjith Induwara, President of the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Association said that if the country lost the stocks of coal contained in the ships, there is a risk that one generator at the Norochcholai coal power plant shutting down for about a month and a half. He stated that there is also a risk of the two ships being diverted if the coal stock was not unloaded in-time.
