NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 27 – Kenya Power is planning to connect Marsabit County to the national grid after a recent incident where two generators that power the devolved unit broke down.
The extensive Northern Kenya county is largely served off-grid through the Marsabit Power Station.
With a total capacity of 2.5MVA, the sub-station runs on three generators.
However, the town experienced darkness after the two generators failed.
“In a bid to provide a permanent solution to the power supply challenges in Marsabit, the Company is working with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to connect Marsabit County to the grid,” KPLC said in a statement.
Part of the county (Moyale town and its environs), which accounts for 40 percent of the county’s total electricity demand, the utility company said, is supplied on-grid by power imports from Ethiopia.
“For this reason, the Company embarked on load management (power rationing), on rotation during the peak demand period, except for supply to critical installations such as hospitals, water supply stations, prisons and government offices,” KPLC said in a statement.
“The Company also brought in a 500KVA generator from Moyale to boost the generation capacity as repairs on the two faulty generators are ongoing.”
