The Hon. Kumara Jayakody - Minister of Energy

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, the answer is as follows.

¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. After obtaining prior approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the CEB undertook demand management islandwide on 10.02.2025. The schedule was as follows: between 3.30 p.m. and 10.00 p.m., on a rotational basis, each consumer group experienced up to 1 hour and 30 minutes of demand management.

¶ 03 (ii) The need arose due to a system-wide failure on 09.02.2025 during which damage to the diaphragms at Lakvijaya Power Station rendered all three generating units unavailable, creating a generation capacity deficit.

¶ 04 However, although all three units (total effective capacity 810 MW) were unavailable, by operating available plants including Sobadanavi temporarily, upon CEB’s request, the demand management requirement was reduced by about 250 MW.

¶ 05 To avoid prolonged unavailability from diaphragm failures and to minimize boiler water circulation, immediate steps were taken following the system failure.

¶ 06 Additionally, daytime system imbalance risks were managed in accordance with the relevant supply agreement.

¶ 07 (b) Not applicable.