Hon. Arkam Ilyas - Deputy Minister of Power

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, many are discussing what is happening in our power sector. Some Opposition MPs claim that we are burning far more diesel for power and that 80% of diesel from a tanker is used for electricity—creating a false public narrative. Let me clarify.

¶ 02 Typically, a diesel tanker of 35,000–40,000 metric tonnes arrives. National daily diesel consumption is about 4,500–5,000 MT. For power generation, at most we currently use about 500 MT per day—about 10% of daily consumption. If a 35,000 MT tanker arrives, that one tanker could theoretically cover about 70 days of the current power diesel need. So claims that we “finish a tanker in 5–10 days” for power are false.

¶ 03 They also blame Norochcholai. At night peak, due to constraints, we lose about 100–150 MW from Norochcholai. Covering a four-hour night peak gap of ~600 MWh would require roughly 0.2 cubic meters of diesel per MWh, i.e., about 120 m3 or roughly 100 MT of diesel per day to cover that loss. Against a 35,000 MT tanker, that’s 350 days—about a year from one tanker in the worst case for that gap. So stop the scare stories.

¶ 04 On coal: we have repeatedly answered. There was no violation in the procurement process. No one has identified a precise procurement breach. The first vessel was rejected and an approximate USD 2 million penalty imposed. For vessels 2 through 8, lab reports have arrived and passed. However, even with passing lab results, plant performance has been below expected—about 100–150 MW short at times. Therefore, we have sent umpire samples to an accredited third-party lab in Australia to confirm whether the issue is coal quality or another plant factor.

¶ 05 Claims of an Rs. 8 billion loss assume a worst-case where every shortfall is replaced with the most expensive diesel over 24 hours. That is unrealistic. Daytime peak is around 2,600 MW; rooftop solar capacity is around 2,000 MW. In recent months, even when Norochcholai could deliver up to ~810 MW, we often deloaded to ~520 MW in daytime—200 MW on Unit 1, and ~160 MW on Units 2 and 3—because you cannot fully shut and instantly restart; we maintain minimums and deload to absorb solar. We also deloaded Kelanitissa to ~90 MW. Thus, the “24/7 diesel loss” math is wrong.

¶ 06 There will be no power cuts. Hydropower available is about 1,500 MW; yesterday over 1,400 MW fed into the system. We have awarded 160 MW of battery storage and have another 100 MW under evaluation, with a further 300–400 MW tender planned to shift daytime solar to night peak. Festivals are imminent—Ramadan and Sinhala Avurudu—there will be no load shedding for that. As of today, we have about 600,000 MT of coal on hand—around 80 days of operations—and more ships are underway.

¶ 07 On fuel tenders: tenders opened on the 17th confirm reliable suppliers through May end for diesel and petrol, and furnace oil for power. We will also consider unsolicited proposals during this exceptional period to ensure energy security.

¶ 08 On the QR: we must preserve stocks for longer, given uncertainty in the Middle East. If we can stretch inventories from two months to four or five, that is prudent. The QR helps us do that while protecting daily life. We ask the public to conserve: limit non-essential travel; prefer public transport; avoid unnecessary events; reduce night-time electricity use; stop charging EVs at night—shift to daytime. Smart meters with time-of-use EV tariffs are coming soon. And please do not hoard fuel. With cooperation, we can manage this period well.

¶ 09 Thank you.