It said that 120 megawatts are being added to the national grid while the water is being released into the Udawalawe Reservoir at a maximum capacity of 42 cubic meters per second.
CEB General Manager Rohan Seneviratne said that until yesterday (07), there was minor electricity production from the Samanala Wewa due to the lower levels of water in the lake.
However, based on a request made to release more water to the farmers, the production of electricity will be increased from today and more water will be released from the reservoir.
The general manager said that since there is no use of releasing water without being properly utilised, the water will be released by generating electricity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Power and Energy said that they will have to purchase emergency power from the privately-owned power plants due to the decision to release water from the Samanala Wewa.
Accordingly, a capacity of about 100 megawatts will have to be purchased from Matara and Embilipitiya power plants in the future, a senior official of the ministry said.
