Island-wide Power outage: CEB still in the dark

• Soon after the countrywide power outage, CEB spokesman Noel Priyantha said the incident would be investigated
• CEB yet to initiate investigation to find out the exact reason 

By Kelum Bandara  

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is yet to initiate investigations to find out the exact reason for the latest island-wide blackout that occurred on December 9 though lightning is cited as the perceived reason.  The power outage is currently attributed to a lightning strike which caused the transmission line from Kotmale to Biyagama to trip.   

At the time, the line was carrying about 500MW, while the total country’s demand was around 1500MW. The tripping of the line resulted in the loss of one-third of the supply, leading to a severe under frequency below the limits tolerable by the other generators supplying the load. Consequently, these generators also tripped, causing an island-wide blackout.  

Soon after the countrywide power outage, CEB spokesman Noel Priyantha said the incident would be investigated.  

Sri Lanka experienced a similar countrywide power interruption in December, 2020, and an act of sabotage was suspected then. A top level committee was appointed then to investigate the matter, and many an eyebrow has been raised now as to why its recommendations were not implemented to avert yet another countrywide power outage.   

 It still remains a mystery whether the blackout was caused due to negligence on the part of the CEB.  Against the backdrop, the CEB has not yet initiated work for the investigation of the recent blackout though more than ten days have passed after the incident which caused economic losses to people and the country at large.  

Asked about the delay, Mr. Priyantha said the names had been sent for the appointment of the committee.