Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has revealed the cause of Friday’s nationwide power blackout, which resulted in billions of shillings in losses.
In a statement on Saturday, Wandayi explained that the blackout occurred when a 220kV high-voltage transmission line tripped at the Suswa substation, disrupting the evacuation of 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.
