Brief
Sri Lanka suffers nationwide blackout as grid shuts down
A fault triggered a two‑hour blackout, prompting the energy minister to call for temporary solar disconnections.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Sri Lanka experienced a nationwide electricity blackout on Saturday after the national grid shut down, officials said.
State‑run Electricity Distribution Lanka reported a fault affecting the entire system, and engineers worked to restore power. The outage lasted more than two hours, with no clear timeline for full restoration.
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said officials would restore electricity in stages and urged rooftop solar owners to disconnect their systems temporarily to aid recovery.
The blackout follows a similar grid failure in February 2025, which was also linked to excess solar generation. Sri Lanka now has over 3,000 MW of solar capacity, while daytime demand averages 2,000‑2,500 MW.
Key facts
- A nationwide blackout hit Sri Lanka on 2026-10-17. (dailytimes.com.pk)
- Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka urged rooftop solar owners to disconnect temporarily. (dailytimes.com.pk)
- The grid fault lasted more than two hours with no full restoration timeline announced. (dailytimes.com.pk)
Sources
- [1] dailytimes.com.pk — originally reported as “Sri Lanka loses electricity nationwide as grid shuts down”
