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600MW hit to national grid as two Norochcholai units go offline

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Sri Lanka’s power system has suffered a major setback with two of the three generators at the coal-fired power plant at Norochcholai going out of service, cutting around 600 megawatts from the national grid, even as Energy Ministry officials stressed yesterday that the issue is minor and fully under control.

One unit has been offline since November for scheduled major maintenance carried out once every three years, while another was shut down following a technical fault in its boiler. As a result, only one generator, at the country’s largest and only coal-fired power station, is currently supplying electricity to the grid.

Despite the sharp reduction in coal-based generation, a senior spokesperson for the Norochcholai Power Plant assured that there would be no disruption to electricity supply, as hydroelectric power generation is being increased to compensate for the temporary shortfall from Norochcholai.

Ministry of Power and Energy officials also confirmed that the situation is not serious and does not pose a risk to the stability of the national grid. “This is a minor technical issue and routine maintenance activity. There is no cause for public concern,” a senior Ministry official said.

Meanwhile, a top official of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said all three units of the Norochcholai Power Plant are expected to be restored by the first week of January, delivering the full 900MW capacity back to the national grid.

“Current reservoir levels are favourable, allowing us to rely more on hydropower during this period,” the CEB official said, adding that system operations are being closely monitored.

A senior electrical engineer told The Island that one unit had been shut down in November for routine maintenance, while another unit suffered an unexpected breakdown earlier this week. “Such incidents are not unusual in large thermal power stations. Corrective work is already under way and the units will be brought back online as scheduled,” he said.

Norochcholai remains the backbone of Sri Lanka’s base-load electricity generation, and while prolonged outages could place strain on the system during dry periods, officials reiterated that current conditions and contingency measures are adequate to ensure uninterrupted power supply until full operations resume.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️



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One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

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A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were  killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

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WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

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Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

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ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.

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