CS Chirchir Explains Cause of Sunday Night Nationwide Blackout

Energy CS Davis Chirchir has explained the cause of the Sunday night nationwide blackout.

Addressing the media on Monday, the CS said the blackout that lasted a few hours was caused by an overload in the Kisumu- Muhorono line.

According to the CS, the overload forced the system to shut down. Further, Chirchir said, the line is supposed to carry 80MW but was carrying 149MW at the time of the blackout.

“We know where the problem is and we are addressing those challenges (lack of investment in the network for a long time). It’s bound to happen again, but we will look at serious maintenance,” he said.

“We have two major challenges: power generation due to lack of water and transition constraints because we have not invested as much.”

Read: Kenyans in Darkness In Third Nationwide Blackout in Three Months

As such, he said, the government is looking to build a new substation and a line of 90 km that will relieve the capacity on the Muhoroni – Kisumu line.

“We will build a new 33KV line between Narok and Bomet to prevent constant power outages. We will have reduced overload line to prevent plunging the country into darkness,” he added.

The new line, Chirchir told reporters, will be funded by African Development Bank and Japan and will be completed in 20 months.

On Sunday, Kenya Power explained that the 8PM blackout was for the third time caused by a so-called system disturbance.

“We have lost electricity supply to various parts of the country due to a suspected fault affecting the power system.”

“We are working to restore normalcy within the shortest time possible. An update on the restoration progress will be issued in due course. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused,” said a statement from the agency.