Three shipments of coal are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on January 05, 09 and 16, Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says.

He mentioned this during a special media briefing convened today (Dec 27) on the procurement of coal for the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai.

Last week, Unit 2 at Norochcholai was shut down indefinitely, in an attempt to manage the existing coal stocks and for routine maintenance.

In response to the speculations on coal stocks in the country running dry by January 02, Wijesekera, citing the officials of the Norochcholai coal power plant, assured that existing coal stocks are sufficient until January 08.

Noting that procurement of new coal shipments was delayed due to various reasons, he refuted claims that the government failed to commence the procurement procedure on time.

Speaking further, Wijesekera stated that despite the delays in the arrival of coal shipments, the government hopes to keep the duration of power interruptions limited to two hours and 20 minutes.

In view of the festive season, an uninterrupted supply of electricity was provided to the general public on 25th and 26th of January, he added, while noting that there will be no power cuts on the 01st and 02nd of January, 2023 as well.

Speaking further, Wijesekera said that all religious places would be supplied with a free-of-charge solar power unit generating 5 kilowatts of electricity. These solar power units will be provided within a period of three months, under an Indian credit facility.