May 14, 2013 (LBO) - An Indian Ocean cyclone named after an ancient Sri Lankan king who is known for building irrigation tanks had brought the highest water inflows in a single day to the island's hydro power storage system.
State-run Ceylon Electricity Board said 106 million cubic meters of water which can generate 144 million units of electricity (GigaWatt hours) had flowed in to the reservoirs in the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning.
The water is worth about 3.2 billion rupees in electricity based on the CEB's estimated cost of production of 23 rupees for 2013.
Hydro storage had risen to 794.4 GWh or 63.1 percent of total capacity from 52.6 percent or 661.5 GWh.
Sri Lanka started building hydro power station from the middle of the last century and now has about 1,200GWh or capacity in various reservoirs some of which are also used for irrigation and flood prevention.
The CEB said if not for the dams that kept the water from flowing down the 106 cubic meters of flow in a single day could have wreaked havoc downstream.
More water, held in catchment areas are expected to flow into the reservoirs as it seeps down.
King Mahasen who ruled Sri Lanka from 277 to 304 is famed for his large irrigation works.
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/Sri_Lanka_hydro_reservoirs_get_highest_inflows_in_singe_day/632467152