KPLC & Lake Turkana Wind Power Clash: Blackout Blame Game
Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) and Kenya Power (KPLC) exchanged accusations online regarding Friday’s nationwide outage, which left the country in the dark for more than 12 hours.
LTWP, in what it refers to as social media reports and eventually looping in KPLC, asserts that its system autonomously shuts down to prevent damage to an already overcharged national grid, thereby exonerating itself of responsibility.
“Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) asserts that it is not responsible for the current blackout. A portion of the statement reads, “LTWP was forced offline and production halted due to an overvoltage situation in the national grid system, which automatically shuts down the wind power plant to prevent severe damage.”
Even though grid system overvoltage is cited as the cause of the power outage, the statement notes that the system was producing 270 Megawatts (MW) into the national grid at the time of the outage, according to “preliminary reports and analysis undertaken by the relevant independent industry stakeholders,” the statement reads in part.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir stated to reporters on Saturday, alongside KPLC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Siror, that LTWP was responsible for the power outage.
In a subsequent statement, KPLC confirmed this, arguing that the nationwide blackout was caused by the loss of 270MW generation at the Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP).
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EPRA
The loss caused an imbalance in the power system and disrupted all other major generation units and stations, resulting in a grid-wide blackout.
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“While there are situations in which a plant could trip, our technical teams are analyzing the data from the protection relays to determine the root cause of the trip, which resulted in a cascading system failure,” read the Kenya Power statement.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s Energy Committee has summoned CS Chirchir and KPLC’s Siror on Thursday of next week, in response to the nationwide power outage from Friday to Saturday.
The two are expected to provide explanations for why the country was in darkness for more than 12 hours, impacting vital services such as operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where significant changes have already been implemented.
“The chairman, Vincent Musyoka, has directed that we summon the CS Energy and the CEO of KPLC on Thursday to explain the cause of the current nationwide blackout that has paralyzed the country, including the International airport,” read a portion of a communication from the committee’s secretariat.
Kipchumba Murkomen dismissed Alex Gitari, the managing director of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), and Fred Odawo, the general manager of project and engineering services, in response to JKIA’s embarrassing power outage. The nation awaits an explanation.
Engineer Samuel Mwochache will replace Odawo, and Henry Ogoye, who has been in command of KAA’s Corporate Planning, will replace Gitari, according to changes made on Saturday.
According to CS Murkomen, the personnel adjustments were necessitated by the KAA’s frequent management-related mishaps, which have led to a demoralized workforce.
KPLC & Lake Turkana Wind Power Clash: Blackout Blame Game