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Breakdown at aging Kenya Power substation costs businesses

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A power transmission sub-station. Kenya Power's Juja Road substation has been the source of perennial power interruptions. PHOTO | FILE

A second breakdown at Kenya Power’s main substation in as many weeks Tuesday caused a lengthy blackout in many parts of the country, costing businesses millions of shillings.

The power distributor’s Juja Road substation suffered a breakdown on its main transmission line beginning at 10:30am Tuesday, affecting most parts of Nairobi, the whole of Coast, Mount Kenya and the Central Rift.

The 50-year-old substation where generated power is stepped down before distribution to Nairobi and the rest of the country experienced another disruption on September 26 when the entire city was plunged in darkness for hours.

Tuesday’s interruption lasted at least two-and-a-half hours.

“(There is a) breakdown on the main transmission line from Juja Control. Kenya Power teams are working to minimise the duration of the interruption caused by the 220kV substation fault,” Benson Muriithi, Kenya Power’s general manager for network management, said in a statement.

Several businesses in Nairobi’s city centre were without electricity beginning late morning, with some being forced to close shop for the day or switch on their diesel-powered generators.

The blackout paralysed operations in several government agencies, including the Treasury building where non-staff were denied entry pending restoration of electricity supply.

The Juja Road substation has been the source of perennial power interruptions.

Another fault at the substation happened on June 15, again affecting Nairobi and its environs.

The same facility in mid-2011 suffered a technical fault plunging the entire country in darkness for hours, forcing Kenya Power to source electricity from Uganda as technicians worked to restore services.

The Juja Road substation was built in the 1940s and is extremely critical to the national grid as it is the source of power for onward distribution to Nairobi and other parts of the country.

Kisumu, Eldoret and parts of Nakuru are some of the few major towns that are not directly linked to this substation since they source their power from neighbouring Uganda.

Kenya Power in 2012 announced plans to upgrade the facility, inviting Finish firms to bid for the job.

Early this year, the $24 million (Sh2.5 billion) contract was awarded to Swiss company ABB Power Systems as part of a multibillion- shilling network upgrade planned by Kenya Power.

READ: Kenya Power in Sh2.2bn Juja station upgrade after 50 years

ABB is expected to finish the upgrade in the next two years.