German experts to arrive to look into power breakdown and recommend solutions

A team of German experts will arrive in Sri Lanka Monday to look into the recent failures in the island’s power distribution network that resulted in several island wide power outages recently.

Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ranjith Siyambalapitiya the German experts will inspect the two transformers at the Biyagama and Minuwangoda grid substations that caught fire last week causing disruptions in the power supply.

The fire and the explosion at the Biyagama grid substation on 13 March caused an automatic shut down in the country’s main coal power plant in Norochchcolai, which supplies 900 MW to the national grid, resulting in an island wide power outage. A fire caused by lightning on the same gird substation on 25 February also resulted in a total power breakdown.

The explosion and fire at the Minuwangoda grid substation on Friday (18 March) resulted in a power cut in a number of areas in Negombo, Ja-Ela and Kotugoda. The incident occurred even before the Norochchcolai power plant became fully operational following the earlier shutdown on the 13th. However, Friday’s blast did not have an impact on the national grid.

The German experts are expected to inspect all 30 electrical transformers of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), assess how such localised breakdowns affect the entire national grid, and make recommendations on how to prevent countrywide power failures during sudden breakdowns.