The Hon. Anura Karunathilaka
The Minister answered a question on investigations into a power system incident, stating that two committees were appointed by the Ministry of Energy and the then CEB, and listing their membership. He said the Ministry Committee recommended measures including reviewing spinning reserve and under-frequency load-shedding criteria, using plants as synchronous condensers, implementing storage and blackout restoration arrangements, improving Lakvijaya restart procedures, promoting battery-backed rooftop solar, tariff incentives, BESS procurement, and renewable energy forecasting desks. He added that neither report identified specific officials as directly responsible, both reports were placed in the Library, and the CEB had been instructed to implement the Ministry Committee’s recommendations through a four-member committee.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answers are as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. (ii) Two committees: one by the Ministry of Energy and one by the then CEB. (iii) Members:
¶ 03 Ministry Committee: - Prof. Leelanta Samaranayake – Chair – Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Peradeniya - Eng. Nalaka Wijekoon, Additional General Manager (Generation), CEB - Eng. Buddhika Samarasekara, Deputy General Manager (National System Control Centre), CEB - Eng. Ruwan Weerathunga, Chief Engineer (System Operations), CEB - Eng. Dulan Lakshitha (Project Manager), CEB
¶ 04 CEB Committee: - Eng. S.B. Alagoda, Additional General Manager (Distribution Zone 1) – Chair - Eng. D.S.R. Alahakoon, Deputy General Manager (Corporate Relations) - Eng. A.J.Z. Wickramaratne, Deputy General Manager (Operations & Maintenance – North) - Eng. (Dr.) H.M. Wijekon Banda, Deputy General Manager (Transmission & Generation Planning) - Eng. S.S.S. Dissanayake, Chief Engineer (Thermal Generation Project Management) - Eng. S.A.P.C. Siriwardena, Chief Engineer (Operations – Colombo City) - Eng. A.U.S. Ranatunga, Chief Engineer (Transmission Grid Planning) - Eng. G.R.H.U. Somapriya, Chief Engineer (Protection Development)
¶ 05 (iv) The Ministry Committee made several recommendations; the full report is annexed (Annex 01). Summary of recommendations: 1. Review the current spinning reserves guidelines/criteria considering renewable integration and system stability. 2. Fully review all Under-Frequency Load Shedding (UFLS) criteria in light of current embedded generation added to feeders. 3. Operate hydro and thermal plants as synchronous condensers wherever possible. 4. Implement energy storage solutions. 5. Immediately implement a blackout restoration scheme within the Colombo city. 6. Implement procedures to safely bring Lakvijaya (Norochcholai) on line. 7. Manage all generation resources to safeguard system stability. 8. Introduce advanced functionalities for smart meters. 9. Promote rooftop solar with battery storage. 10. Introduce time-of-day tariff incentives on Sundays and public holidays for industries and MSMEs. 11. Implement Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) through competitive bidding. 12. Establish Renewable Energy Desks equipped with a resource forecasting system.
¶ 06 The CEB Committee’s findings are presented in detail under Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of its report (Annex 02). Both Annexes placed in the Library.
¶ 07 (v) Neither report names specific officials as directly responsible.
¶ 08 (vi) The CEB has been instructed to implement the Ministry Committee’s recommendations, and a four-member committee has been appointed for that purpose.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 5 May 2026 ·No. 23546 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Anura Karunathilaka. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 May 2026. No. 23546. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/19722