Interim Report of Power Outage committee released

Incorrect operation by Electrical Superintendent cause for power outage; Interim Report

by Zulfick Farzan 29-08-2020 | 12:19 AM

Colombo (News 1st); The key reason for the nation-wide power interruption on 17th August 2020 was due to the incorrect operation by the Electrical Superintendent-in-Charge at the Kerawalapitiya Grid Sub Station present at the time, the Interim Report of the committee appointed to probe the matter.

It also added there is no robust maintenance protocol in place at the Kerawalapitiya Grid Sub Station.

The report of the 09 member committee was made public at the media briefing on Friday (28) and notably, the Director-General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Damitha Kumarasinghe, who is also a member of the committee, had not signed the report.

Dr. Lilantha Samaranayake from the University of Peradeniya speaking to reporters said the Kerawalapitiya Grid Sub Station tripping was caused because correct maintenance procedure was not followed by the Electrical Superintendent and it caused the tripping at the Lak Vijaya Power Station.

The Interim Report also found the CEBs failure to avoid a country-wide blackout and taking a long time to restore power, indicates significant lapses in the implementation of critical measures outlined by previous committees.

The Interim Report of the committee had recommended that maintenance procedures and protocols that are systematic, foolproof, and safe should be installed at CEB during operation and maintenance.

Skilled personnel should be placed to continuously monitor and supervise the procedures.

Interestingly, the committee had not found anyone directly responsible for the August 17th, 2020 total power outage.

The Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Power, K. H. D. K. Samarakoon said the committee is tasked with identifying where the fault lies and how to fix it, rather than finding someone responsible for the power outage.