Power regulator approves hourly load shedding as major plant goes offline

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has approved controlled power cuts of one hour's duration as the country grapples with reduced generation capacity. The decision follows the shutdown of the Lakvijaya Power Plant, one of the nation's major electricity generation facilities.

The outage at Lakvijaya has significantly impacted the national grid's available output, necessitating demand management measures to prevent system instability. The approved load shedding will be implemented across different regions on a rotational basis to distribute the impact equitably among consumers and businesses.

The power cuts represent a temporary response while authorities work to restore the affected generating unit. Officials have indicated that the duration and frequency of blackouts may be adjusted depending on the progress of repair work and changes in overall demand patterns.

Consumers across the island are advised to plan accordingly during scheduled outage periods. The PUCSL continues to monitor the situation closely as efforts proceed to bring Lakvijaya back into operation and restore normal power supply capacity.

Photo: The Lakvijaya (Norochcholai) Power Station in Puttalam, seen from the Madurankuliya Wind Farm site, July 2013. Hisham Cassim via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).