Dr Tilak Siyambalapitiya, energy expert and former Chief Engineer at the CEB, says that the country will have to face severe power cuts by 2018.

In an opinion piece for the Divaina newspaper, the energy expert says that politicians and other parties have always wreaked havoc with the long term plans of the CEB.

The recent drama has unfolded after the government tore away the 20 year plan of the CEB in 2015, he added.

Meanwhile, the government has perfected the strategy of how to foil long term energy plans, he said. Environment organizations, religious groups and various other interest groups are actually leading the protest, and the governments can easily put the blame on them and move on disrupting the plans, Siyambalapitiya added.

The government can provide electricity at a concesionary rate due to the Norochcholai plant, he added. Without a feasible solution to the growing energy needs, the country will face power cuts by 2018, he warned.