The CS in a statement to newsrooms revealed that the blackout which occurred on Friday, September 6 at 8.56 am was caused by the trip that occurred while evacuating 288MW from the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary James Opiyo Wandayi has revealed that a trip at the 220kV High Voltage Loiyangalani transmission line at the Suswa substation plunged the country into a second blackout in one week.
The CS in a statement to newsrooms revealed that the blackout which occurred on Friday, September 6 at 8.56 am was caused by the trip that occurred while evacuating 288MW from the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant.
“This was followed by a trip on the Ethiopia – Kenya 500kV DC interconnector that was then carrying 200MW, resulting in a total loss of 488MW. The total demand in the system at the time was 1790 MW.
“The loss of 488MW, accounting for 27.3% of the total generation, resulted in cascade failure and partial collapse of the grid. This affected most regions of the country except parts of Western Kenya, which was supported by supply through the interconnector to Tororo, Uganda,” Wandayi stated in part.
Power blackout in Kenya. /STANDARD DIGITAL
According to the CS, restoration efforts commenced immediately and in earnest, and as of 11.30 am this morning, power supply was normalised to parts of North Rift, Central Rift, Nairobi and Mount Kenya regions.
This includes major towns and cities such as Nyeri, Embu, Kirinyaga, Nanyuki, Nakuru, Naivasha, Thika, Eldoret, Kericho, Kakamega, Siaya, Busia, Vihiga, Kisumu, Bungoma and Webuye.
A team from the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) has since been dispatched to inspect the transmission power line while the restoration efforts, Wandayi says, are progressing.
“As at now about 70% of the country has been restored and we are fast-tracking the restoration process for the rest of the county and we will be taking more loads as generation picks and we expect normalcy by late this afternoon,” he added.
“What we are witnessing today has built up over time and is as a result of sub-optimal investment in energy infrastructure. The sector is looking into short-term and long-term interventions to address this challenge including bringing onboard private sector capital to supplement Government efforts.”
Wandayi’s statement came hours after Kenya Power announced the nationwide outage that swept through several parts of the country except for some parts of the North Rift and Western region.
Beforehand, the CS expressed the ministry’s commitment to reducing frequent power outages, even stating that the government has set up a special team to respond to blackouts in record time.
“I am not here to tell you that blackouts are a thing of the past. What I am here to tell you is that we have put in place measures and systems that would first and foremost mitigate the blackouts.
“But if they happen, there will be a system to respond swiftly to the blackout and restore power in the shortest time possible,” Wandayi told Citizen TV.
