GE Power Revitalizes Sri Lanka's Electric Grid; Inaugurates State-of-the-Art NSCC

With the demand for electricity growing, managing Sri Lanka’s increasingly complex power grid has been challenging.  GE Power’s Grid Solutions business (NYSE: GE)in collaboration with Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the electricity company in Sri Lanka, deployed the country’s first centrally integrated control and load forecasting system in the state-of-the-art National System Control Center (NSCC) in Colombo. The system will cover 100% of the nation’s transmission power flow which serves more than 22 million Sri Lankans, by managing peak loads of 2,500 MW.The project has been executed by GE T&D India Limited – the listed entity of GE Power Grid Solutions in India.

Speaking about the success of the project, Sunil Wadhwa - Regional Leader, GE Grid Solutions South Asia and Managing Director of GE T&D India Limitedsaid, “I am glad that the quality of the project’s implementation has pleased CEB, the success of this vital makeover project will open new avenues for GE Power in Sri Lanka.”

GE Power’s advanced Energy Management System (EMS) suite of solutionsemploys a single digital platform to ensure reliable, secure and efficient energy management throughout the island. The system will enable real-time monitoring of 91 generation and transmission facilities – from a single screen! GE’s intuitive SCADAsystem will analyze the voluminous data collected from these facilities and will aid the customer in making informed decisions on meeting varied demand, load shedding and resource optimization.

“It was a privilege and an honor to be in attendance when the President of Sri Lanka cut the ribbon and then visited the NSCC control room. Having the President of the country inaugurate the control center highlights the significance of the first-ever national control system and the impact this will have on the reliable and efficient supply of electricity in Sri Lanka,” said Alistair Wells, Asia Regional Leader, GE Power Digital.

In 2016, Sri Lanka suffered two nation-wide blackouts, causing water shortages, transport and trade disruptions across the country. Unfortunately, there was only an old energy management system (EMS) that had reached its “end-of-life.”  The system did not have the capability to handle the power flow of this evolving country. GE Power’s Digital Energy software provided the solution to support the revitalization of Sri Lanka’s electric grid.