Power cuts for today & tomorrow across the island due to ongoing demand

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has approved the Ceylon Electricity Board’s request for power interruptions today (10 February) and tomorrow (11 February), the Commission said.

Accordingly, areas listed under 4 groups will experience power cuts of 1 hour and 30 minutes between 3.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m 

Due to ongoing demand management, power supply to different zones will be curtailed for durations of up to 1.5 hours between 3:30 PM and 9:30 PM today, CEB said.

"Every effort will be made to minimize the duration of these interruptions as much as possible. This demand management will continue until the Norochcholai power plants are back in operation. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of the public during this period," the CEB said in a statement. 

The country experienced an islandwide power outage yesterday after three units of Norochcholai Lakvijaya coal power plant shut down today as a result of an under-frequency in the electrical grid system caused by several power lines tripping.

Lakvijaya will now be unavailable for at least three to four days, which is how long it takes to restart the three units once they go into a complete shutdown, authoritative Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) sources said. It was not immediately clear why the plants did not go into standby mode. 

Earlier Times Online reported that countrywide power failure started around 11.133am, trigged by “something happening” at the 132/33kV Pandura substation. Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody was widely quoted as saying a monkey had caused the initial power failure. (It was also reported that “a clash between monkeys” was the reason).

The CEB, however, refused to reveal the initial cause of the Panadura-Matugama line tripping yesterday. The official spokesman said they will “investigate the reason and let you know”. Chairman Tilak Siymbalapitiya—when asked how many monkeys were involved—said, “If any, it will come in the CEB’s detailed report.”