Repairs to the Rantambe reservoir, which have resulted in power generation from the Randenigala reservoir being temporarily halted, will not lead to power cuts or power interruptions, Ceylon Electricity Board Joint Trade Alliance Convener Ananda Nimalaratne said yesterday.

He told The Island "There won’t be any power shortage. We have enough power for an uninterrupted supply. But, if the repair is not done on time - once in two years or so - it would result in heavy losses to the system."

He said since the Randenigala and Rantembe reservoirs mostly benefit irrigation purposes, the CEB took the decision to repair the reservoirs in consultation with Mahaweli Authority and the Irrigation Department. The other reason being, that this is the period where electricity is generated at its lowest.

Rantambe and Randenigala provide nearly 10 per cent of the hydro power which is cheaper in than thermal power and the CEB is in a position to provide electricity at a concessionary rate.

The temporary halt would result in the CEB having to use thermal power.

A senior engineer told The Island yesterday that due to a repair in one of the two intake gates in the Rantembe reservoir, power generation at Randenigala too had been stopped temporarily.

He said total capacity will be minus 140MW due to the on-going repair of the intake gates. The function of the intake gate is of great importance to prevent debris entering the system.

He was confident that the system would be back to normal from October 7. The repair commenced on September 1.

The engineer said that though Randenigala generates 120MW and Rantembe 50 MW, the capacity output depends the present level which is 110 MW and Rantembe 45 MW.

On average Randenigala and Rantambe generates 336.4GWh and 169.3 GWh.