Army Called In To Protect National Power Grid

President Maithripala Sirisena has advised the army to be deployed to provide security for all installations including substations of the National Electricity Grid.

This comes amidst speculation that an act of sabotage caused the island-wide blackout yesterday. Power and Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, in a statement this morning, also confirmed the President's decision to deploy Army to ensure security at all installations. 

However, the CEB is still investigating the incident. Some sections of the media said there was a minor explosion at the Biyagama power plant before the island-wide power outage on Sunday evening.

It was the third island-wide blackout since the new government came to power in August 2015.

Meanwhhile the Prime Minister has called for a meeting today on the latest blackout.