Sri Lanka imposes power cuts after plant failure

Colombo

Sri Lanka will undergo 90-minute power cuts on Monday and Tuesday due to a breakdown at the 900-megawatt Norochcholai coal power plant, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced. The outage has led to a shortage in supply, forcing authorities to ration electricity.

The CEB stated that power cuts will be implemented in two slots between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. across different areas. The disruption follows a sudden island-wide blackout on Sunday, caused by a grid failure in a Colombo suburb after a monkey came into contact with electrical equipment.

This is the first scheduled power rationing since August 2022, when Sri Lanka faced an economic crisis that led to severe shortages of fuel and electricity. At that time, forex shortages forced 12-hour daily power cuts, triggering widespread protests. The unrest led to the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka's recovery efforts were aided by a $4 billion credit line from India, which helped stabilize essential supplies. However, the latest power cuts raise concerns about the country's energy security and infrastructure reliability.

Authorities are working to restore the Norochcholai power plant, but in the meantime, scheduled outages will continue as part of emergency measures to manage electricity demand.