The 2020 Sri Lankan blackouts were a series of electrical blackouts that occurred on 17 August 2020, beginning around 12.30 pm SLST (UTC+5:30) and lasting over seven hours. The nationwide blackouts occurred due to a transmission technical failure at the Kerawalapitiya Grid-Sub station.[1][2][3] The Ceylon Electricity Board announced that the cause of the blackout had not yet been determined, describing it as an unspecified failure.[4][5] The Ministry of Power stated that a special committee had been appointed to investigate the root cause behind the blackout.[6]

Development

The outage caused disruption in day-to-day activities of the public, including causing traffic congestion in Colombo due to malfunctioning of traffic signals and malfunctioning water supply services.[7][8][9][10][11] Power was restored to the south of the island relatively early, due to it being powered by the Samanala Dam.[12]

Initially, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Power claimed that the outage occurred due to a failure in the Yugadanavi Power Plant.[13] The Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma later stated that the outage would be resolved within a space of two hours but the restoration process was delayed for hours due to cascading failures.[14] The power was restored in most parts of the country including Colombo at around 8.30 pm and was regarded as the worst nationwide blackout faced by the country since 2016.[15] The blackout further aggravated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The blackout did not disrupt Bandaranaike International Airport, the main airport of the country, which was closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals, offices and other infrastructure had backup power generators.[16]

Background

Sri Lanka's electricity demand is currently met by thermal power stations (54.59%), major hydroelectric power stations (33.50%), and wind farms (2.12%), small hydro facilities (8.01%) and other renewables such as solar (1.78%).[17] Sri Lanka as a whole faced major nationwide blackout during March 2016 which lasted for over eight hours.[18] Localised regional power cuts are common in Sri Lanka although nationwide blackouts are rare.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sri Lanka plunged into darkness as power outage hits entire nation". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Island-wide Power Cut due to an issue in the transmission system". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Electricity supply island-wide was disrupted". Daily News. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Vyshnavy (17 August 2020). "Electricity supply disrupted around the island | Colombo Gazette". Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Sri Lanka power grid in total cascading failure". EconomyNext. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Weerasooriya, Sahan. "Committee appointed to probe unexplained power cut". Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. ↑ Ferguson, Emily (17 August 2020). "Sri Lanka power cut: Entire country loses power due to huge error". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  8. ↑ "Traffic lights out due to power outage; heavy traffic in Colombo". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Island-wide Power Cut disrupts water supply to Colombo". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Sri Lanka plunged into darkness as power outage hits entire nation". CNA. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sri Lanka faces nationwide blackout due to power failure - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Sri Lanka in extended blackout as grid fails repeatedly – Update". EconomyNext. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Afp (18 August 2020). "Power outage hits entire Sri Lanka". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "All island power cut - to be restored within two hours". Hiru News. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Sri Lanka Faces Nation-Wide Blackout After Power Failure". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "Whole of Sri Lanka hit by power blackout". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 18 August 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  17. ↑ Annual report 2018 Retrieved 22 March 2023
  18. ↑ AFP. "Lanka plunged into darkness as power outage hits entire nation". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
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