{"id":106008,"date":"2020-08-28T15:44:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T22:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=106008"},"modified":"2020-08-28T15:44:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T22:44:41","slug":"islandwide-power-failure-on-17-august-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/08\/28\/islandwide-power-failure-on-17-august-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Islandwide power failure on 17 August 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarath Bulathsinghala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

28\nAug 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From what we have heard so far\ndown the grapevine, the power failure on 17th<\/sup> August 2020 has\nhappened due to a single act of carelessness by an operative of the CEB who accidentally\n\u2018grounded\u2019 a 220kV electrical system during routine maintenance work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interim report of the\nIndependent Committee on the island wide power failure that occurred on 17\nAugust 2020, which was handed over to Cabinet yesterday, has concluded that the\nKerawalapitiya Grid Substation tripping was due to correct maintenance\nprocedure not being followed<\/strong> by relevant officials, including the Electrical\nSuperintendent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his note to Cabinet under\nCabinet Memorandum 52\/2020\/PE, Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma has\nobserved that it is a huge management lapse that there was no Maintenance\nProtocol at the Kerawalapitiya Grid Substation for the implementation of\nmaintenance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually\nthese protocols are worked out subsequent to what are called HAZID (Hazard\nIdentification) \/ HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) studies. The Hazard\nIdentification Study is a process that breaks a project down into component\nparts for detailed analysis. This analysis helps identify hazards that could\ncause injury to personnel, asset damage or loss, environmental damage, loss of\nproduction, etc. A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) a structured and\nsystematic examination of a planned or existing process or operation in order\nto identify and evaluate problems that may represent risks to personnel or\nequipment, or prevent efficient operation; it is carried out by a suitably\nexperienced multi-disciplinary team (HAZOP team) during a set of meetings.\nHAZOP is a more detailed review technique than HAZID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either there was no protocol or\nif there was one it was inadvertently ignored. It looks more like a systemic\nfailure to be more to the point! That is because this is a repeat of similar\nelectrical failures that happened in March 2016 involving \u2018exploding\ntransformers\u2019! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is inexcusable in this\ncase is that there are hundreds of thousands of similar installations\nthroughout the world and proper protocols for such maintenance operations\navailable freely to follow or emulate to suitably modify such a protocol to\nsuit the local situation and set up a new protocol or a set of procedures. Literally\nwe do not have to \u2018reinvent the wheel\u2019! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEB Association of\nTechnical Engineers and Superintendents who also made written submissions of\ntheir observations on 22 August regarding the incident on the request of the\nCommittee stated, Two generators have been installed at the Norochcholai power\nplant for continuous operation of the cooling systems in the event of a\nbreakdown. Had these generators run at the time of the system crash, damage to\nthe cooling systems in Units 2 and 3 during the 17 August crash could have been\nprevented.\u201d It is these very same two UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply Systems)\nwhich became an issue around March 2016 that are involved in this instance too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the independent committee in its\ninterim report has strongly recommended a standard compliant, systematic, fool\nproof, safe procedures and maintenance protocols to be put in place in CEB\nduring operation and maintenance. The committee understands that there is no\noperation and maintenance related risk management mechanism in place.\nTherefore, it is recommended to establish a risk management mechanism to\ndetermine the proper mix of preventive measures, mitigation levels, shift or\nretention of risks and consequent level of robustness of operation and\nmaintenance protocols that would indicate the positive impact on the overall\nsystem,\u201d the committee stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very powerful words indeed! What worries\ncitizen Perera is whether all this will be forgotten as in March 2016 \u2013 four\nand half years earlier and another similar catastrophic event will eventuate in\nthe not too distant future if left in the hands of the same management and the\nwords \u2013 CEB Mafia will resonate once more on the lips of the consumer! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are confident however that Gotabhaya Administration will put a stop to such mishandling of public assets in the future and those responsible will be disciplined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Ignorance, bigotry, slanders, politics and Norochchalai!<\/a><\/blockquote>