Most parts of the country in darkness- Kenya Power
Kenya was on Thursday evening experiencing a national power outage following a system disturbance.
In a statement on Thursday, Kenya Power said, “We experienced a system disturbance on the grid, resulting in power supply disruption in most parts of the country.”
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Kenya Power said they regret any inconveniences caused and urged for patience from customers as they work towards restoring normal power supply at the earliest opportunity.
“We will issue the update on the progress of the power restoration exercise within two hours,” said the statement.
Kenya Power on Monday moved to explain to its consumers the reason why some parts of the country sometimes experience blackouts.
— Kenya Power (@KenyaPower_Care) May 2, 2024
Kenya Power on Monday moved to explain to its consumers the reason why some parts of the country sometimes experience blackouts.
The company explained that the unplanned outages that occur whenever it rains are orchestrated by strong winds that usually accompany heavy rains.
The strong winds, the company said, sway trees causing branches to touch and occasionally fall on power lines. “This triggers a circuit breaker leading to a power outage,” Kenya Power said.
A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which an equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interrupt current flow to protect equipment and to prevent fire.
The Kenya Meteorological Department in their weather forecast this week said heavy rainfall of more than 40mm in 24 hours was expected across Lake Victoria Basin, Rift Valley, Nairobi and Southeast Lowlands until Saturday.
The forecast said the rains would be accompanied by strong southerly winds, exceeding 30 knots, in coastal areas and Northeast Kenya. This, the forecast showed, would likely intensify to over 40 knots from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5, 2024.
"Large ocean waves of more than two meters are anticipated in the Indian Ocean from May 2 to 5, 2024. Stay safe and keep an eye on weather updates," the weatherman announced.
The growing incidences of large-scale blackouts are a pain to businesses such as retailers, manufacturers, hospitals, schools and other entities who are forced to switch to costly temporary power sources such as generators.
Businesses that cannot afford these alternative sources of power are forced to wait for Kenya Power to restore supply even as they count losses.
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The company has for some time now been grappling with an ageing electricity transmission network that is prone to breakdowns causing undue outages.
The unreliable power supply coupled with the high cost of electricity has also been pushing away investors at a cost to the local economy.
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