East Africa: Kenya Seeks Help From Uganda to Tackle Power Crisis After 20-Hour Power Outage At Nairobi Airport

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(file photo).
28 August 2023
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Muhamadi Matovu

Kenya Power, the national electric utility company in Kenya, has reached out to Uganda for assistance in restoring imported electricity to address the power crisis in the country.

The outage, caused by a system disturbance, occurred on Friday, affecting many parts of Kenya.

The outage left passengers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), stuck in darkness for extended periods at Nairobi's main airport.

Footage from local media showed individuals using mobile phone torches to navigate the darkened airport.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) reported that one of its standby generators did not function after the power grid went off.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen apologised for the nationwide blackout that affected JKIA and promised to announce measures to prevent a recurrence after discussing with airport leaders.

Murkomen also dismissed Alex Gitari, the head of Kenya's airports authority.

Furthermore, he noted that political meddling has caused a demoralised and chaotic labour force.

Despite the partial restoration of power in some regions, rampant power shortages still persist across the majority of the nation, according to the authority.

Kenya Power stated that importing electricity from Uganda would have been more efficient and convenient, but it was not available during the crisis.

Nevertheless, they have sought assistance from Uganda in resolving the over 20-hour power outage.

To recover the grid, Kenya Power isolated the lines carrying the affected electricity generators and utilized electricity from Seven Fork Hydro power stations.

However, this method took longer compared to importing electricity from Uganda, which was not possible at the time.

The restoration efforts began in the Central and Eastern Regions and progressed towards Nairobi.

Kenya Power is also in the final stages of incorporating power from the Olkaria complex, where most geothermal plants are situated, to restore supply to areas still experiencing power outages.

The state-backed utility firm, enjoying a monopoly in Kenya, reported that the power outage was triggered by a loss of 270MW generation from the Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP), resulting in an imbalance in the power system and subsequent shut down of other main generation units and stations.

Kenya Power apologises for any inconvenience caused and expresses gratitude for the patience of its valued customers.

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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