INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has reiterated that owners of rooftop solar systems must switch off their units until 03.00 p.m
demand for electricity during the April holidays and the operational renewable energy supplies, the CEB decided that the supply of
moment, electricity production should exactly match the consumption
If customers are not using much electricity or have closed down, electricity production, too, has to be reduced
10th April from 1500hrs onwards, supply from rooftop units of 100kW and above, operating on net plus and net plus plus contracts, were shut
These units, numbering about 500, supply energy to the grid on a commercial basis
In line with standard operational practices during periods of low demand, similar to other CEB and privately-owned power plants, these units
remain offline throughout the holiday period to support grid stability
Friday, April 11th, as some factories were still working, the morning demand was met initially with the support of three coal generating
Later during the day, all three coal units were backed off to their minimum power levels to accommodate solar generation from about 100,000
smaller solar units during daytime
The daytime peak demand was successfully met using a diverse energy mix of hydro, coal, naphtha, wind, solar, and mini hydro sources
As the night-time demand sharply declined, signaling that the holiday season has commenced, one coal unit was completely shut down at
(SCC), the recorded overall demand during most of the daytime remained above 1,500 MW
This suggests a significant contribution from rooftop solar units
Saturday, April 12th, with factories and offices shut down, electricity demand dropped sharply as expected
The demand at 6 am, before any solar units commenced production, was lower by about 400 MW compared with a typical Saturday
The only remaining oil power plant that was helping overnight in the absence of one coal unit, the Kelanitissa power plant using Naphtha
from the refinery, was fully shut down by 09:16 AM to accommodate the production from solar units
No oil-fired power plants operated the rest of daytime
Only two coal units operating at minimum power and larger hydro power plants maintained grid stability
CEB prioritized renewables, allowing all small solar units to produce, but as a precaution, issued SMS alerts to all rooftop solar owners to
The night peak was met using hydropower and ramped-up coal power from the two coal units that were still in operation
further as shops and other commercial customers, too, closed down, increasing grid stability challenges
CEB again issued a public request to all rooftop solar unit owners, including smaller units, to temporarily shut down during the day
Throughout this period, only two coal units, operating at minimum power at daytime to enable solar power to be absorbed, but operating at
almost full power overnight to serve the customer demand, were active
Oil-fired generation was used briefly during night peaks, when the other renewables (wind and biomass) and hydropower alone could not meet
the CEB Spokesman requested relevant parties to support the initiatives taken by the board until 21 April.
