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CEB curtails solar power intake into national grid; Regulator left in the dark
View(s):The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) last week started curtailing solar power output to the national grid by giving instructions to small-scale ground-mounted power producers to drop production between 11am and 1pm.
It is not clear whether these instructions will be repeated today, as the producers were only notified verbally on the morning of February 16, 2025—when the first curtailment took place—to cut production by 50 percent each.
All affected plants were over 10 MW in capacity, said Sameera Ganegoda, President of the Grid Connected Solar Power Association.
There is no provision in the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed between the CEB and these producers for such curtailment, he said.
Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has requested a report from the CEB on these cuts, which were carried out without prior notice to the regulator. It has also asked the utility to explain what steps it will take in the future as regards solar power supply to the grid.
Following the countrywide power failure of February 9, 2025, the CEB issued a press release saying it was triggered by a disturbance at the 33kV Panadura grid substation (GSS), leading to a sudden voltage drop across the network.
“At the time of the incident, over 50% of national electricity demand was met by 800 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, with additional supply from Lakvijaya Power Plant at Norochcholai (470 MW) and hydropower plants (130 MW),” it said.
“Due to the high penetration of non-synchronous solar PV generation, the grid had low system inertia, making it vulnerable to faults,” it continued. “The disturbance resulted in an imbalance between generation and demand, leading to cascading disconnections and a total power failure. A sharp voltage drop caused multiple solar PV systems to disconnect, worsening the imbalance and further destabilising the grid.”
One of the measures the CEB said it would take to prevent a recurrence was curtailing ground-mounted solar PV generation (only when necessary) during low-demand periods to mitigate instability risks. This will not affect rooftop solar.
However, instructions to cut power were unexpected, industry sources said, adding that the least-cost principle had been violated while it was also not clear what criteria had been adopted, how the relevant power plants were selected, or on what basis the extent of power restrictions was decided.
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