Editor's Review

“As of now about 70% of the country has been restored and we are fast-tracking the restoration process for the rest of the country."

Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary James Opiyo Wandayi has revealed that the nationwide power outage on Friday, September 6 was a result of a trip at the Loiyangalani transmission line.

In a statement, Wandayi said the 220kV High Voltage transmission line tripped at the Suswa substation while evacuating 288MW from the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant.

This was followed by another trip on the Ethiopia-Kenya 500kV DC interconnector that was then carrying 200MW, resulting in a total loss of 488MW.

“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,” said Wandayi.

The Energy CS noted that restoration efforts commenced immediately and by 11:30 am, power had been restored to parts of North Rift, Central Rift, Nairobi, and Mount Kenya regions.

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File image of KPLC technicians fixing a transformer.

Wandayi also said a team from KETRACO has been dispatched to inspect the transmission power line while the restoration efforts are progressing.

“As of now about 70% of the country has been restored and we are fast-tracking the restoration process for the rest of the country and we will be taking more loads. as generation picks and we expect normalcy by late this afternoon,” Wandayi remarked.

Further, he said the power outage was built up over time as a result of sub-optimal investment in energy infrastructure.

Wandayi mentioned that the sector is looking into short-term and long-term interventions to address the challenge including bringing onboard private sector capital to supplement Government efforts.

“In the meantime, we are fast-tracking the following: Pursuing the lifting of the moratorium on PPA by the National Assembly Implementation of baseload (hydro, geothermal) generation projects to improve energy security and provide adequate spinning reserves,” the energy CS added.

The country on Friday morning experienced a power outage except in some parts of the North Rift and Western region.