Kenya has once again been thrust into darkness as a nationwide blackout struck the country on Thursday, May 2, 5:40pm, compounding the challenges already faced due to heavy downpours.
In a press release, Kenya Power, the national utility company, attributed the blackout to a system disturbance on the grid, leading to disruptions in power supply across most parts of the country.
“We regret any inconvenience caused and urge for patience from our customers as we work towards restoring normal power supply at the earliest opportunity,” stated Kenya Power in the release.
The company has assured Kenyans that it is working to restore power within two hours.
This recent blackout follows a similar incident in December last year, which was attributed by Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir to an overload in the Kisumu-Muhoroni line.
Chirchir noted that the line, designed to carry 80MW, was overloaded with 149MW at the time of the blackout.
"We have not invested much in the networks. We plan on giving out a number of networks to be built by private firms. This will ease putting pressure," Chirchir commented.
He outlined plans for the construction of a new substation and a 90 km line to alleviate capacity issues on the Muhoroni-Kisumu line, as well as the establishment of a new 33KV line between Narok and Bomet to prevent recurrent power outages.
During a similar blackout in November, it took engineers over 12 hours to restore power across most parts of the country.
However, the most severe outage occurred on Aug. 25, marking the longest disruption in Kenya's history.
The cause of this outage remains a mystery, with Kenya Power blaming a failure at Africa's largest wind farm, while the wind farm attributed the responsibility to the power grid instead.
In the wake of these outages, Kenyans have taken to social media to express their frustrations and demand accountability from Kenya Power.
Some have likened the situation to that in Nigeria and South Africa, where power rationing is common, deriding the agency for its failure to address the recurrent blackouts effectively.
The latest blackout comes at a challenging time for Kenya, as the country grapples with raging floods that have left many estates inhabitable.
