Sri Lanka suffers six-hour nationwide blackout
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The country was without grid power for six hours on Oct 17.
PHOTO: AFP
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka suffered a six-hour nationwide electricity blackout on Oct 17 after the national grid tripped, possibly because solar power generation exceeded consumption, officials said.
The country was without grid power from around noon until dusk, when supplies were restored in stages across the island of 22 million people, the state electricity authority said.
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said the cause of the major breakdown was still under investigation, but engineers suspected an imbalance caused by high solar power generation while demand was muted on a weekend holiday.
The system was restored after the authorities made repeated appeals to rooftop solar system owners to disconnect their systems to help stabilise the grid.
The entire grid shut down in February 2025, when solar power generation exceeded consumption on a bright, sunny Sunday. It took more than six hours to restore supplies.
Sri Lanka has an installed solar power capacity of just over 3,000MW, while daytime demand ranges from 2,000MW to 2,500MW.
Tax concessions have encouraged consumers to switch to solar power and sell their surplus electricity to the grid, creating imbalances that the utility provider is struggling to manage.
The government aims to increase solar power generation capacity to nearly 4,400MW within three years – a 388% increase from 2024. AFP