CS Wandayi Explains Cause of Friday’s Nationwide Blackout After Backlash From Kenyans

CS Wandayi Explains Cause of Friday’s Nationwide Blackout After Backlash From Kenyans

CS Wandayi Explains Cause of Friday’s Nationwide Blackout: According to the Cabinet Secretary, Friday’s major power blackout was caused by the partial collapse of the national grid coming from a hitch at Suswa substation.

“Today, Friday 6th September 2024 at 8.56 am, the 220kV High Voltage Loiyangalani transmission line tripped at Suswa substation while evacuating 288MW from Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant. This was followed by a trip on the Ethiopia – Kenya 500kV DC interconnector that was then carrying 200MW, resulting to a total loss of 488MW,” he said in a statement.

“The total demand in the system at the time was 1790 MW. The loss of 488MW, accounting for 27.3% of the total generation, resulted in cascade failure and partial collapse of the grid,” the CS added.

This comes days after another power outage affected all parts of Kenya except parts of the North Rift and Western regions.

It also comes just a day after CS Wandayi demanded a report from Kenya Power on the technical, operational, human capital and protection of the power system as he steps in to tackle the national blackouts.

Mr Wandayi on Thursday, September 5, also ordered the firm’s board to embark on reforms that include reducing energy costs.

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