Industry

Nationwide power outage disrupts business

power

Staff at a salon on Moi Avenue Nairobi sit idle for lack of customers May 28, 2013 following a nationwide power outage. Photo/SALATON NJAU

A nationwide blackout disrupted business Tuesday after the national interconnected grid and generating system tripped.

According to a statement from Kenya Power, two transmission lines between the Olkaria geothermal load centre and Ndenderu sub-station near Nairobi tripped, while carrying 400 MW of electricity.

The full effect was fed to the national grid which supplies the whole country with electricity, hence triggering the ‘power blackout’.

"Subsequently, the national interconnected grid and generating system also tripped, causing a national power outage,” said Kenya Power Corporate Communications officer Kevin Sang.

He said engineers had already set in motion a ‘blackstart’ with electricity supplied from Uganda to Sondu Miriu station to power the country.

The national power outage comes barely a day after the Kenya Power scrapped the Sh35,000 fee for electricity connections and said it would issue new rates on “economic cost of connecting”.