Play store
Colombo: Sri Lanka suffered a nationwide electricity blackout on Saturday after its national grid tripped, possibly because solar power generation exceeded demand, officials said.
The country remained without grid electricity for more than two hours, with no clear timeline for the full restoration of supplies.
State-run Electricity Distribution Lanka (EDL) said engineers were working to resolve a fault affecting the entire grid and suspected that excess solar power had triggered the breakdown.
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said authorities hoped to restore electricity supplies in stages.
“We request rooftop solar system owners to disconnect their systems until further instructions in order to support the restoration efforts,” he said in a brief statement.
Sri Lanka experienced a similar nationwide blackout in February 2025, when solar power generation reportedly exceeded consumption on a bright, sunny Sunday. It took more than six hours to restore electricity supplies.
The country has an installed solar power capacity of just over 3,000 megawatts, while daytime electricity demand ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 megawatts.
Tax concessions have encouraged consumers to switch to solar power and sell surplus electricity to the national grid. However, the growing volume of solar energy has created challenges in balancing supply and demand.
The government aims to increase solar power generation capacity to nearly 4,400 megawatts within three years, a 388 per cent increase from the 2024 level.
