Too much solar power? Sri Lanka suffers nationwide blackout as grid fails

Sri Lanka experienced a nationwide electricity blackout on October 17, 2025, as the national grid tripped, potentially due to solar power generation exceeding consumption, according to officials. The country was without grid power for over two hours, with no clear timeline for when electricity would be restored. State-run Electricity Distribution Lanka (EDL) reported that engineers were working to fix a fault affecting the entire grid, and suspected excess solar power had caused the breakdown.

Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka requested rooftop solar system owners to disconnect their systems until further instructions to support restoration efforts. The blackout occurred on a bright, sunny Sunday when solar power generation exceeded consumption, a situation that has been exacerbated by tax concessions encouraging consumers to switch to solar and sell their surplus electricity to the grid.

The government aims to increase solar power generation capacity to nearly 4,400 megawatts within three years, a 388% increase from 2024, but the utility provider is struggling to manage the resulting imbalances.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.