By: Staff Writer
February 24, Colombo (LNW): The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) recently initiated a reduction in solar power output to the national grid by instructing small-scale ground-mounted solar producers to scale down their generation between 11 AM and 1 PM. The directive, issued verbally on the morning of February 16, 2025, required each producer to cut production by 50 percent. However, it remains uncertain whether this measure will be repeated in the coming days.
Sameera Ganegoda, President of the Grid Connected Solar Power Association, stated that the affected plants all have a capacity exceeding 10 MW. He highlighted that the power purchase agreements (PPAs) between these producers and the CEB do not include provisions permitting such curtailments.
In response, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has requested an official report from the CEB regarding these unexpected power reductions, which were carried out without prior notice to the regulatory authority. Additionally, the PUCSL has sought clarification on CEB’s plans for managing solar power supply in the future.
This development follows the nationwide blackout that occurred on February 9, 2025. In an official statement, the CEB attributed the outage to a disturbance at the 33kV Panadura Grid Substation, which led to a sudden voltage drop across the power network.
At the time of the failure, over 50% of the national electricity demand was being met by solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, contributing 800 MW, while other sources included the Lakvijaya Power Plant at Norochcholai (470 MW) and hydropower plants (130 MW).
The CEB explained that the high penetration of non-synchronous solar PV generation resulted in low system inertia, making the grid susceptible to faults.
The disruption caused an imbalance between power generation and demand, leading to cascading failures and a complete system outage. A significant voltage drop triggered the disconnection of multiple solar PV systems, further destabilizing the grid.
As a precautionary measure to prevent similar incidents, the CEB announced plans to curtail ground-mounted solar PV generation during low-demand periods when necessary to minimize grid instability. However, this measure will not impact rooftop solar installations.
Industry experts have expressed concerns over the abrupt nature of these instructions, stating that they were unanticipated and lacked transparency.
They argue that the least-cost generation principle was violated, and it remains unclear how the specific power plants were chosen for curtailment and what criteria were used to determine the extent of these restrictions.
As the solar power sector seeks greater clarity, stakeholders are urging the CEB to establish transparent guidelines and consult with producers to ensure a fair and effective approach to managing grid stability while maximizing renewable energy contributions.
