The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has announced that the power generated by the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant is expected to be added back to the national grid by Friday, February 14.

CEB Engineer Dhammika Wimalaratna stated that efforts are underway to expedite the restoration process:

“We believe we will be able to restore the power supply to normal within the next three to four days. By February 14, we expect full restoration, which would eliminate the need for demand management. However, we are also working to restore power earlier than expected, and if successful, we will notify the public in advance.”

He further noted that the ongoing one-and-a-half-hour power cuts may be reduced in the coming days as the restoration progresses.

Earlier, the CEB announced that island-wide power cuts would be implemented on Monday (10) and Tuesday (11), with one-and-a-half-hour outages occurring between 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to manage electricity demand effectively.

On February 09, Sri Lanka faced a widespread power outage that affected the entire island at around 11.15 a.m. The cause of the outage was linked to an incident at the Panadura grid substation, where a monkey reportedly entered the substation, triggering an imbalance in the power system. As a result, the island’s electricity supply was disrupted.

The power restoration process faced difficulties due to low electricity demand, which was typical on a Sunday. However, while power was fully restored by 6.00 p.m., a subsequent issue arose at the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, where the automatic protocol system disconnected all three generators. 

This disconnection caused a loss of 900 megawatts to the national grid, exacerbating the power shortage.

By 6.00 p.m., the demand for electricity began to rise, which led to further power outages in various regions. To mitigate the shortfall, the CEB sourced additional electricity from thermal power plants. After a sustained effort, the power was fully restored to the island by 9.45 p.m.