FILE PHOTO: A high voltage electrical pylon stands on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, March 14, 2011. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
May 9, 2020
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya and Uganda were hit by a power blackout on Saturday after what distributor Kenya Power <KPLC.NR> said was a system disturbance in the transmission grid.
The neighbouring countries’ grids are interconnected.
Kenya Power said power went off at 5:49 a.m.(0249 GMT).
“Our engineers are working to identify and address the hitch, towards restoring normal electricity supply,” it said in a statement.
Kenya Power gave no more details on the system disturbance.
Uganda also suffered a nationwide blackout, Uganda Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd said on its Twitter account.
“We have lost transmission across the nation … please bear with us as we investigate the cause and work on restoration,” it said.
In January 2018, both countries suffered major blackouts due to what they said were system disturbances.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi, Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Timothy Heritage)
