NAIROBI, Kenya- In the early hours of the morning, most of Kenya was plunged into darkness following a major power outage.
Kenya Power, the national electricity provider, confirmed that the blackout began at midnight and affected nearly all regions except parts of the Western and North Rift.
The widespread outage, one of many in recent months, disrupted critical operations for organizations relying on uninterrupted internet connectivity.
In a statement issued at 1:28 a.m., Kenya Power said, “We are experiencing a widespread power outage affecting most of the country, except parts of the Western and North Rift regions. The cause of this outage is yet to be determined.”
This blackout follows a worrying trend of power reliability issues in Kenya. The longest outage occurred on August 25 last year, when Kenya Power blamed Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) for the disruption.
LTWP, however, denied responsibility, attributing the problem to the national power grid.
By 7:35 a.m., Kenya Power announced that electricity had been restored to most regions, including Nairobi, Mount Kenya, Central Rift, North Rift, Western Kenya, and South Nyanza.
The utility company appealed for patience from its 9.6 million customers as restoration efforts continued. While many households and businesses resumed normal operations, the repeated outages have left Kenyans questioning the stability of the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Recurring blackouts raise critical concerns about the resilience of Kenya’s power grid. As renewable energy sources like wind and solar become more integrated into the grid, the coordination of supply and demand remains a challenge.
Addressing these outages is essential for economic stability and public trust.
