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National Electricity Demand Trends
Comparison of power demand thresholds and recent spikes.
Primary Sources
Power cuts for today & tomorrow across the island due to ongoing demand
News 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.” Comments Still No Comments Posted.
Time to get ready to face power - The Island
The power cuts are already here. Perhaps, even before the date predicted by the Public Utilities Commision of Sri Lanka (PUCSL. The peak load has gone well past the threshold they indicated as the tipping point of 3030 MW of peak load. It is now will past 3100 MW and growing, perhaps triggered by the continued heatwave making the use of air conditioners and fans more frequent and by a wider group of consumers. The government insists there is no intention of power cuts but each of us have experienced some form of power outage, without notice, at some time or other. It is in this scenario that the Ceylon Electricty Board (CEB), or whatever it is called now, had directed all roof top solar projects, over 300 MW capacity, to shut down for the period 10th April to 20th April. This is in addition to the curtailment of all ground mounted solar and wind projects, and even mini hydro projects, without compensation, going on for some months. One year of inaction by CEB with the problem staring in the face If will be recalled that the same demand was made in April, 2025, after the debacle of the countrywide blackout on 9th February, 2025, whether caused by a monkey or otherwise. The question to be raised is what steps have been taken by the then CEB, or the Ministry to anticipate the situation this year, too, and to try and mitigate the same. The easy answer is absolutely nothing. If at all what has been done is unilaterally prevent any further addition of Roof Top Solar PV, under the provisions of the Surya Bala Sangramaya (SBS), is, undoubtedly, the only short term and economical means to add low cost renewable electrical energy to the grid. The architect of the SBS, the Sustainable Energy Authority is deafening by their silence, when their signature project of prime national importance has been sabotaged, and now even the performance of the already installed systems are being curtailed. This action is totally unbelievable when the use of expensive oil-based generation will continue unabated, even during the day, when there is so much solar energy already installed. Of course, the age-old excuse will be trotted out, of the non-firm nature of Solar and Wind and problems of grid stability, etc. Many useful and practical solutions to face the growing issue of how to integrate the essential low cost but variable resources of solar and wind to the grid as an aftermath of the blackout were discussed over a year ago. But nothing seems to have even been attempted. The most...
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