විදුලි බිඳවැටීම හේතුවෙන් ජල සැපයුමට බාධා - ජලය අරපිරිමැස්මෙන් භාවිත කරන්නැයි ඉල්ලීමක්

A widespread power failure affected Sri Lanka on October 17. Lankadeepa reported interruptions beginning at about 11:45 a.m.; other reports described the event as an islandwide outage. The National System Operator (NSO) said it was working to restore the electricity system.

Supplies were being brought back in stages, area by area, from around noon. Ada Derana Tamil reported the NSO’s estimate that service had returned to 50% of affected areas. The NSO expected the national grid to be restored by about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 17.

The NSO asked owners of rooftop solar systems to switch off their panels until further notice while restoration work continued. Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said the precise cause had not been established and that restoring supply was the immediate priority, with investigation continuing.

The minister identified a technical failure at the Kotmale power plant on October 16 as one possible factor under examination. Another Newswire report said a failure at Upper Kotmale was suspected, while emphasizing that the cause was not confirmed.

In response to reports of generating-plant breakdowns, the NSO said no such breakdowns had been reported. It said hydropower plants that had been operating before the grid failure remained operational and were being used in restoration; Norochcholai coal plant had shut down under standard procedure after the system failure, not because of a mechanical fault.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.