The war in the Middle East is putting Sri Lanka's fuel supply at risk, prompting the government to ask owners of electric vehicles to unplug them at night to avoid power plant consumption peaks, reports France Presse.
Most of the country's nighttime electricity generation relies on coal and especially diesel power plants, which authorities have been rationing since Sunday because of delays in the delivery of oil they import from the Gulf region.
To avoid any disruption, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake asked EV owners to refrain from recharging them at night, as most are used to doing.
“This increases the burden on the electricity grid, we are forced to operate all our plants to meet the demand,” he said in a televised address on Tuesday evening.
“Charge their day, when the solar panels go”
“Charge your cars sooner when we have more electricity thanks to our solar panels,” he added.
More than 10 percent of Sri Lanka's car fleet is now made up of electric models, sales of which have seen strong growth since the five-year import ban on the vehicles was lifted last year.
In his speech, the head of state confirmed his country's difficulties in resupplying with hydrocarbons, stating that two ships loaded with 90,000 tons of crude oil are stuck in the Gulf region due to fighting.
“Our government is in talks with friendly countries, we have made considerable progress,” he assured, stating that the negotiations are aimed at the delivery of refined products from Russia and neighboring India.
To conserve its dwindling fuel reserves, the government in Colombo instituted a four-day work week starting Wednesday.
Photo: Tom Wang | Dreamstime.com
