Dec 11 (LNGJ) - Sri Lanka, the Asian island nation with unfulfilled plans for LNG imports and gas-fired power projects, has suffered a nationwide power outage over the weekend as the financial crisis continued to hinder fuel and food imports. Sri Lanka largely depends on hydro-electric power for power generation, while coal and oil can be used to cover the balance, though the financial crisis has hindered coal and oil imports.
Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy last year with almost $85 billion in debts with more than half owed to foreign creditors. The government and the power industry said they were working to manage the situation. “We made a request to the government to allow the public sector, which has about 1.3 million employees, to work from home for the next two days so we can manage the fuel and power shortages better,” said a statement from Janaka Ratnayake, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.
