CS Wandayi: This is what caused today’s blackout
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
Friday's major power blackout was caused by the partial collapse of the national grid which stemmed from a hitch at Suswa substation, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has explained.
"Today, Friday 6th September 2024 at 8.56 am, the 220kV High Voltage Loiyangalani transmission line tripped at Suswa substation while evacuating 288MW from 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 to a total loss of 488MW," he said in a statement.
"The total demand in the system at the time was 1790 MW. The loss of 488MW, accounting for 27.3 percent of the total generation, resulted in cascade failure and partial collapse of the grid," the CS added.
Mr Wandayi said that power has been restored to 70 percent of the country.
Friday's power outage is the second major one in less than a week, affecting all parts of Kenya except parts of the North Rift and Western regions.
It also comes just a day after CS Wandayi demanded a report from Kenya Power on the technical, operational, human capital and protection of the power system as he steps in to tackle the national blackouts.
Mr Wandayi on Thursday, September 5, also ordered the firm's board to embark on reforms that include reducing energy costs.
The country has frequently experienced widespread power cuts, including on the evening of Mr Wandayi's homecoming ceremony, which was graced by President William Ruto.
Frequent blackouts
The country has, within the last year, witnessed frequent outages both nationally and at the regional level. For instance, on August 25, 2023, there was a national blackout that lasted 17 hours. On December 10, 2023, there was another national blackout that lasted nearly 8 hours before power was restored.
On the evening of August 30, 2024, when President William Ruto graced CS Wandayi’s homecoming ceremony to celebrate his appointment to Cabinet, Kenya experienced another major power outage that affected most parts of the country. This took well over 8 hours to restore, according to the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK).
IEK further expressed concern “regarding the declining reliability of electricity supply” in the country.
“These events have significantly eroded the confidence of the public on reliability of power supply,” IEK President Shammah Kiteme said.
“Countrywide grid collapses are not a unique problem to Kenya. Other countries have faced these. IEK's concern is drawn from the frequency and duration it is taking to restore power in the event it occurs,” Mr Kiteme added.
