Nairobi — The question of who is to blame for the national power blackout that lasted for 12 hours on Friday has still remained unanswered even as government institutions continue to trade blame on each other.
In a statement, Kenya Power explained that the country experienced a nationwide power outage at around 9:45 pm on Friday night after losing 270MW generation from Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP).
In a quick rejoinder however, Power producer Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) distanced itself from the accusation asserting it was forced to go offline to avert damages to an already overcharged national grid.
"Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) wishes to assert that it has not caused the current power outage. LTWP was forced to go offline and stop generation following an overvoltage situation in the national grid system which, to avoid extreme damage, causes the wind power plant to automatically switch off," reads part of the statement.
The Power Producer explained that it only produces 270MW out of the national required output of 1855MW hence their automatically going off would not have occasioned the power outage across the country.
"Typically this interruption would be immediately compensated for by other power generators in the system.Since LWTP was forced to switch off on Friday evening,the plant has not yet been brought back into operation," reads part of the statement.
However, Kenya Power explained that even though the system demanded 1855.8 MW, the loss of the 270MW supplied by LTWP was expected to cause a widespread power outage.
"The loss triggered an imbalance in the power system and tripped all other main generation units and stations, leading to a total outage on the grid," Kenya Power said.
While power outages are not uncommon in Kenya, the sudden darkness at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) took many by surprise and escalated into widespread public frustration and anger.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) revealed that the airport's power outage was due to the failure of one of its generators to start.
After the unprecedented scenario at Kenya's largest international airport, which left passengers stranded, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen issued an apology.
"I am really sorry for what has happened at JKIA with the blackout. There is no excuse worth reporting and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness," he said in a tweet.
He moved to fire Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Managing Director Alex Gitari following the power blackout at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) that stranded passengers for more than two hours.
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Henry Ogoye who is currently serving as the Head of Corporate Planning has been appointed to replace him in an acting capacity.
Fred Odawo who has been the Project and Engineering Services General Manager has also been fired and replaced by Samuel Mwochache.
"Over the last few years, KAA has faced a series of mishaps occasioned by management challenges and political interference that has resulted into a demoralized and disorganized workforce," Murkomen stated.
Murkomen also allayed the fears that the blackout incident posed a danger to the incoming and outgoing flights and passengers explaining that the backup generator lighting the runway and control tower was seamlessly deployed.
He also directed the KAA to immediately commission two backup generators that were procured two years ago to avert the occurrence of such incidences in the future.
"At no time did we have an iota of darkness on the runway and the tower. In order to ensure that a similar incident is not replicated, it has been decided that the two generators that were procured more than two years ago be immediately commissioned," Murkomen said.
Other changes effected in the management of airports include the transfer of Abel Gogo, the Airport Manager JKIA to Mombasa International Airport.
Kisumu International Airport Manager Selina Gor has taken up Gogo's place at JKIA. Mombasa Airport Manager Peter Wafula has been moved to Kisumu International Airport.
