Kenya goes dark
breaking news, business, gallery, kenya, news 8:29 AM
NAIROBI, (Reuters) - Kenya Power will begin daily power cuts starting July 27 for an unspecified period in east Africa's biggest economy due to insufficient water at power dams and a decline in fuel-based power supply, the firm said on Monday.
The blackouts will last for about three hours each on alternate days, Kenya Power said. The lion's share of electricity in the farm-based economy is from hydropower dams, which have been affected by drought in parts of the country.
Analysts say the power cuts could lead to the use of more diesel or heavy fuel to produce power as has happened before due to poor rainfall. They said this could push oil imports higher and raise electricity costs, worsening inflation.
"The outages mean an additional headache for industrialists already facing high production cost numbers ...It will frustrate attempts to cool off inflation," said Robert Shaw, an independent economic analyst.
Kenya Power's stock was unchanged at 20.25 shillings a share from its Friday's close.
A drought in east Africa has constrained electricity supplies in the region, which has already forced neighbouring Tanzania to implement daily 12-hour power cuts for an indefinite period.
Kenya Power said delayed installation of new power generators, outages and planned maintenance of generation machines as well as the unavailability of the contracted 26 megawatts (MW) of power from Mumias Sugar Company co-generation plant has affected the national electricity reserve.
The firm, which is 50 percent owned by the government, did not provide details of the reserve and consumption levels.
Mumias, Kenya's largest sugar miller, is currently undertaking an annual maintenance programme at its factory in western Kenya.
"Owing to the foregoing, it now necessary for Kenya Power to effect interruption of supply at certain times and in different parts of the country on a rotational basis," the firm said in a statement.
Kenya's energy regulator said the power shortage was caused partly by a breakdown at a hydropower plant.
"We have had challenges with generation and transmission owing to breakdown in some establishments such as Turkwell hydro-dam and a geothermal unit within Olkaria II," said Kaburu Mwirichia, director general of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
"The hitch at Turkwell has affected about 53 MW of power while the breakdown at Olkaria II is compromising about 35 MW which is substantial. We are optimistic the situation could improve in about two months when the hitches with these production units are fully addressed."
The blackouts will last for about three hours each on alternate days, Kenya Power said. The lion's share of electricity in the farm-based economy is from hydropower dams, which have been affected by drought in parts of the country.
Analysts say the power cuts could lead to the use of more diesel or heavy fuel to produce power as has happened before due to poor rainfall. They said this could push oil imports higher and raise electricity costs, worsening inflation.
"The outages mean an additional headache for industrialists already facing high production cost numbers ...It will frustrate attempts to cool off inflation," said Robert Shaw, an independent economic analyst.
Kenya Power's stock was unchanged at 20.25 shillings a share from its Friday's close.
A drought in east Africa has constrained electricity supplies in the region, which has already forced neighbouring Tanzania to implement daily 12-hour power cuts for an indefinite period.
Kenya Power said delayed installation of new power generators, outages and planned maintenance of generation machines as well as the unavailability of the contracted 26 megawatts (MW) of power from Mumias Sugar Company co-generation plant has affected the national electricity reserve.
The firm, which is 50 percent owned by the government, did not provide details of the reserve and consumption levels.
Mumias, Kenya's largest sugar miller, is currently undertaking an annual maintenance programme at its factory in western Kenya.
"Owing to the foregoing, it now necessary for Kenya Power to effect interruption of supply at certain times and in different parts of the country on a rotational basis," the firm said in a statement.
Kenya's energy regulator said the power shortage was caused partly by a breakdown at a hydropower plant.
"We have had challenges with generation and transmission owing to breakdown in some establishments such as Turkwell hydro-dam and a geothermal unit within Olkaria II," said Kaburu Mwirichia, director general of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
"The hitch at Turkwell has affected about 53 MW of power while the breakdown at Olkaria II is compromising about 35 MW which is substantial. We are optimistic the situation could improve in about two months when the hitches with these production units are fully addressed."
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