Kenya Power Generator Bursts Into Flames

Power supply was on Tuesday, September 26 disrupted in Marsabit County after a fire broke out at a Kenya Power plant in the county.

A photo seen by Viral Tea showed the plant engulfed in flames as residents were seen trying to put out the inferno.

Marsabit-based station, Biftu FM, reported that the fire, whose cause is yet to be established, caused damage to one of its power generators.

A Kenya Power generator bursts into flames at Marsabit County on September 26, 2023. /PHOTO

Marsabit County KPLC business manager Jasper Ogeto however revealed that despite the tragedy, residents of Marsabit and some of its suburbs will continue to get electricity.

The county has been suffering from the problem of lack of electricity from time to time despite having the largest project in the country to generate electricity through the wind of Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP).

Business people in the county have moreover been impacted adversely by the inadequate power supply, with cases of break-ins targeting shops in Marsabit town.

The residents are also appealing to the Ministry of Energy to intervene with regard to matters LTWP.

Kenya Power was yet to issue a statement regarding the fire breakout by the time of publishing this article.

On Saturday, August 26, LTWP denied responsibility for the nationwide power outage that plunged many Kenyans into total darkness.

In a press statement, LTWP refuted various social media reports as well as a statement by Kenya Power which pointed fingers at them for causing the blackout on Friday, August 25 from 9.45 p.m.

The wind power firm clarified that it was forced to go offline and stop generation following an overvoltage situation in the national grid system which, to avoid extreme damage, causes the wind power plant to automatically switch off.

The conclusion that the grid system overvoltage caused the issue, it added, was supported by preliminary reports and analysis undertaken by the relevant independent industry stakeholders.

Kenya Power in their previous statement stated that after losing 270MW generation from LTWP, an imbalance in the power system was triggered and tripped all other main generation units and stations, leading to a total outage on the grid.