The 2027 Budget proposes installing synchronous condensers at New Habarana and Mannar and a STATCOM facility at the Padukka grid substation, to keep the national electricity system stable as renewable generation takes a larger share of supply.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced the projects in Thursday’s Budget speech, Hiru News reported, presenting them as a response to the stability problem that arises when a high proportion of renewable energy joins the grid.
What is being installed
- Two synchronous condensers of 75 MVA each at New Habarana
- Two synchronous condensers of 75 MVA each at Mannar
- A 300 MVAr STATCOM facility at the Padukka 220 kV grid substation
Both technologies address the same underlying issue. Wind and solar generators connect to the grid through power electronics and, unlike conventional thermal and hydro plant, contribute little of the rotating mass and reactive power that hold system voltage and frequency steady. Synchronous condensers restore some of that rotating inertia; a STATCOM provides fast reactive power support electronically.
The siting is consistent with where Sri Lanka’s renewable build-out is concentrated — Mannar is the centre of the country’s wind development.
Financing and timeline
The President said the project is financed with World Bank assistance and is expected to start in 2027 and finish in 2029.
The measures sit alongside the separate transmission expansion work already under way, including the Sampur–Kappalthurai transmission contract awarded on 3 November.
Sourcing note
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. No Daily Mirror, NewsFirst or EconomyNext filing covered the grid-stability proposals at the time of writing, and the Daily Mirror’s sector-by-sector Budget breakdown lists no grid transmission line.
Not reported
The filing gives no total project cost, no 2027 allocation, no implementing agency, and does not say whether the equipment is to be procured as one package.
