Kenya Power Outage: CS Opiyo Wandayi explains why national grid collapsed

A major power outage affected large parts of Kenya today after a cascade failure in the national grid, according to a statement released by the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, Opiyo Wandayi.

The outage occurred at 8:56 a.m. after a high-voltage transmission line tripped, leading to the loss of over 27% of the country’s electricity generation capacity.

Restoration efforts have been underway since the incident, and about 70% of the affected regions had power restored by early Friday afternoon.

A Kenya Power employee working on a power line pulse uganda

The Ministry of Energy reported that the 220kV Loiyangalani transmission line, responsible for evacuating 288MW from the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant, was the first to trip.

This was followed by a trip in the Ethiopia–Kenya 500kV DC interconnector, resulting in the loss of a total of 488MW, contributing to the grid's partial collapse.

The affected areas included major towns and cities such as Nyeri, Embu, Nairobi, Eldoret, and Kisumu.

Wandayi reassured the public that restoration efforts began immediately, with significant progress made by 11:30 a.m.

Key regions in the North Rift, Central Rift, and Mount Kenya areas have already seen power restored, and the ministry anticipates that normalcy will return across the country by late afternoon today.

READ: Meet Kenyan who sells cheap power to thousands, including neighbours, schools & SMEs

Root Cause and Long-Term Solutions

In his statement, Wandayi attributed the incident to suboptimal investments in energy infrastructure over time.

He revealed that the ministry is exploring short-term and long-term solutions to prevent such occurrences in the future.

Key interventions include bringing on board private sector capital to supplement government efforts in bolstering Kenya’s energy security.

The ministry is also fast-tracking critical projects aimed at enhancing the resilience of the grid, including the completion of transmission lines in regions like Kitale, Isiolo, and Bomet.

Additional measures include the lifting of the moratorium on Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) by the National Assembly and the implementation of new hydro and geothermal generation projects to provide a stable base load.

Investments in Energy Infrastructure

Kenya's energy demands have been growing, with peak demand hitting 2239MW on August 21, 2024, during which the grid's reserve margin was only 9MW.

To address this challenge, the Ministry is working on several key projects, including the expansion of grid flexibility through the construction of new evacuation lines and voltage regulation systems at key substations like Suswa and Rabai.

In addition, efforts to repair and upgrade existing lines, such as the Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line, are ongoing.

[FILE] Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) live line experts dismantle power cables to relocate power lines to pave way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway in Westlands, Nairobi, on September 24, 2020. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images) Pulse Live Kenya

New projects like the Gilgil-Thika-Malaa-Konza 400kV line are expected to complete the Nairobi Ring, which will help decongest the existing infrastructure at the Suswa Complex.

CS Wandayi emphasised the ministry’s commitment to ensuring energy security and delivering reliable service to Kenyans.

As the restoration continues, he assured that his team is working around the clock to restore full power to the affected regions and mitigate future disruptions.