JKIA Explains Why There Was A Blackout Despite Having Generator

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has attributed the nearly 2-hour power blackout at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi to the failure of one of the generators to start.

In an update released on Friday night, August 25, KAA stated that the generator had affected operations at the airport's Terminal 1A and Parking Silo.

The challenges occurred at the same time the country was thrown into a power blackout from 9.45 pm on the same day.

Screengrab of a power blackout that affected Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on August 25, 2023. /TWITTER

"Jambo! Following a nationwide power blackout, one of the generators serving JKIA's T1A & Parking Silo failed to start, resulting power outage in a section of the airport. 

"This has been rectified & all generators are now fully operational. Power has been restored to the affected areas," stated the authority.

Electricity was restored at around 11:50 p.m. Beforehand, passengers at the immigration and baggage handling sections at JKIA were among those affected.

Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed the blackout at JKIA, announcing that he would make a decision on Saturday, August 26 after meeting the leadership of the airport.

"I am really sorry for what has happened at JKIA with the blackout. There is no excuse worth reporting and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness.

"I will be announcing the decision we will make tomorrow at 9 a.m. at JKIA after a meeting with the leadership of the airport. Once again I am sorry," he wrote on social media.

JKIA as of December 2022 had a backup generator and two power substations to ensure that operations at the country's biggest airport went on uninterrupted, even during a nationwide power outage.

Meanwhile Kenya Power on its part announced that it managed to restore the power supply to the Mt Kenya region, adding that it was working to restore normalcy to other areas as soon as possible.

The monopoly firm had confirmed that the Friday, August 25 nationwide power blackout affected Nairobi, Rift Valley, Mt Kenya and Western Kenya regions, among others.

"We are glad to report that we have successfully restored power supply to Mt Kenya Region. We are working to restore normalcy in all other areas as soon as possible. 

"Initial reports indicate that the power outage was caused by a fault in one of the generation plants. We thank our customers for their patience as we continue with the restoration exercise," stated Kenya Power.

Kenya Power had previously in the aforementioned regions, including Nairobi and South Nyanza confirmed the blackout, stating that the outage was caused by a general system disturbance that affected two major lines supplying power to these areas.