Who is the devil behind the darkness?

At a time of the year when people are rushing indoors to avoid the scorching heat, an irregular series of power outages have added to their burden. Last Sunday, Sri Lanka experienced the third power outage which lasted around 8 hours and made headlines in local and international media. Taking matters on a serious note, the Premier himself appointed a special committee to investigate into the matter and requested the military to guard key power stations in the island. In an attempt to find out what went wrong and whether there was any party with vested interests that could have caused this huge damage to the country’s economy and the people, the  spoke to some people in authority.

We urge consumers to save electricity : Dr. Suren Batagoda

Speaking to the , Dr. Suren Batagoda, Secretary to the Minister of Power and Energy said that when the transformers get tripped, it causes a shock to the Norochcholai power plant. “The power plant is not designed to support a big shock. The cooling system has to work efficiently and this requires new technology. Therefore the issue is in the design. Today we are short of 300MW of power and we urge the consumers to save as much electricity as possible until the power system is restored.” 

The power plant is not designed to support a big shock.

Power should be decentralised: Dr. Ranil Senanayake

In his comments to the , systems ecologist, Dr. Ranil Senanayake said that this problem should be perceived in a different perspective. “Right now I am out of Colombo experiencing difficulties like everybody else. However, we can look at this problem in another way. We have enough sunlight and water;  why can’t we generate electricity through solar and hydro power? The problem with all of us is that we are depending on one grid. However if power could be decentralised, then we could turn to other options in generating electricity. Since we depend on this sole grid, even if there is a minute’s fault somewhere, the entire system goes down and everybody is affected. It’s time to think about the future of the country and the introduction of a better mission which all of us could follow.”

Right now I am out of Colombo experiencing difficulties like everybody else

Chairman’s resignation will not solve the problem : Ranjan Jayalal

Ranjan Jayalal, a member of the CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance said that the administration and the government should be held responsible for the mess-up. “The people don’t know what is going on inside these offices. If there is an island-wide power cut without prior notice, it constitutes an offence. The officials are only here for perks, promotions and other benefits. Last Sunday was not the first instance where we experienced an island-wide power outage for many hours after the new government came in to power. 

When the Prime Minister realised that there was something wrong, he appointed a committee, but today we do not know if that committee still exists, whether they probed into the matter, made an investigation and issued a report. Just because the chairman resigned, it doesn’t mean that this problem will be solved. I am pretty sure that we will experience a similar event within the next few days as well.
 When it comes to a power plant, there needs to be regular maintenance procedures to identify faults and restore power accordingly. Earlier there were similar operations but lately nobody is bothered to know what is happening at the power plant. Today the CEB comprises some businessmen who have got appointed to fill their pockets and go home at the end of the day. The Norochcholai power plant has a lower efficiency when compared to that of a hydro-power plant.”

The people don’t know what is going on inside these offices. If there is an island-wide power cut without prior notice, it constitutes an offence

The Norochcholai plant has no ‘safe shut-down’ mechanism: Anura Wijepala

In his comments to the , Anura Wijepala, Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said that when major equipment in the system fails to function, the entire system is affected. 

“Therefore when the transformer tripped at the Biyagama Grid Substation, the entire Norochcholai plant reacted to the disturbance.  The plant has not been designed for a safe shut-down and we are trying to introduce this technology within the next few weeks. Since there is a loss of around 200-300MW several areas in the country will experience power outages. Therefore during the next few days, consumers should bear with us until the system is restored and until then they should limit the use of electrical appliances.”

 

 

Therefore when the transformer tripped at the Biyagama Grid Substation, the entire Norochcholai plant reacted to the disturbance