29 May 2013, Agency report – Kenya was plunged into a countrywide power outage on Tuesday afternoon after the Ndenderu sub-station tripped, disconnecting 400 megawatts, mw, from the national grid.
Subsequently, the national interconnected grid and generating system also tripped, causing a national power outage, the Capital FM radio in Nairobi reports.
Kenya Power’s communications department said engineers were working round the clock to re-connect power using electricity. “Kenya Power engineers immediately commenced a ‘blackstart’ with electricity supplied from Uganda to Sondu Miriu power station,” a statement from Kenya Power indicated.
The power outage paralysed business countrywide. The national power supplier urged the public for patience and promised that it would explain why the transmission lines tripped.
“We wish to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and assure them that everything possible is being done to restore power as quickly as possible.” Power blackouts in Kenya are a common occurrence sometimes blamed on water shortage especially in the dry season.
Sixty percent of electricity in Kenya is generated from hydropower, 30 percent from geothermal generators whereas 25 percent is supported by diesel generators.
There has been persistent urge for Kenya to consider wind power as opposed to over-reliance on hydro energy.
