Blackouts are proof of incompetence

Serious questions need to be asked about the management of energy. Within a period of 18 months, two serious power failures have thrown the country into darkness, causing panic at a time when insecurity has become a major deterrent to investment, and leaving homes and business exposed.

The countrywide blackout on Sunday night was worrying, because it exposed our vulnerability to sudden disruptions.

There are two issues at stake here: The first concerns the fact that we appear to have ransomed our strategic power resources to independent power producers.

This is a dangerous precedent for the simple reason that it creates an inbuilt disincentive within Government to expand power sources quickly enough, and also opens avenues for corruption.

Which leads us to the second issue, one that revolves around expanding the country’s power supply sources. There is a palpable feeling within the private sector that Government used the drought as an excuse to "go slow" on key power projects meant to wean us off the IPPs, simply to allow certain fat cats to make money selling electricity at exorbitant prices to Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC).

The swelling power bills that have also brightened the coffers of KPLC come at the huge cost: lost jobs in the small and medium-sized enterprises where the bulk of new employment is expected to come from.

Unrealistic Policies

The explanation given for the outage by KPLC, while plausible, hides a bigger problem that falls within KenGen’s docket. The truth is that the Ministry of Energy has failed to protect consumers from the side-effects of its unrealistic policies, which remain in favour of hydropower and expe-nsive thermal power generated using costly diesel.

Studies show that hydropower sources will progressively become unreliable due to climate changes brought about by global warming. More investment needs to be directed towards alternative energy, especially wind and solar, which are classified by the United Nations as ‘clean’. Instead, Government spends billions paying IPPs who have now become a permanent fixture.

The construction in Ngong’ of a windfarm and plans to have Africa’s largest windfarm in Turkana are a step in the right direction but still too small a step.

It is good that KPLC’s transmission system has safeguards that are triggered by failures at generating sources. However, it is unforgivable that it does not have a redundancy plan, that allows it to restore normal supply almost immediately, instead of having to import power from Uganda. For citizens to wait five hours before seeing a flicker of light is not just sad, but almost criminal.

Beyond the matter of blackouts is the issue of the security of the country’s power dams and clean water sources. Anyone who has lived in Uganda or Tanzania will testify that the countries do not take chances in the protecting of their water and energy installations. That, however, is not the case in Kenya.

The main dams supplying water to Nairobi, for instance has no security fence and any one can walk right up to the water’s edge. In Uganda and Tanzania, elite units of the security services, would be guarding the same dam with the knowledge that in the event of a war, civil unrest or terror attack, they would be among the first likely targets. The same applies to our power stations. We live as though the words ‘terrorism’ and ‘war’ are alien, yet we are surrounded by nations in turmoil, and our own internal security remains a matter of debate.

The security arms of Government should work out a strategy with KPLC and KenGen to secure all critical power installations.

Manage reserves

Data available from the Energy Regulatory Commission show that the frequency of outages has increased. Whether this is due to use of sub-standard transformers, or simply vandalism is yet to be certain. What is certain is that if this scenario prevails, Vision 2030 would remain a mirage.

Government planners and bureaucrats should ensure that our energy capacity grows in tandem with the economy.

 

 

Read all about: Kenya Power and Lighting Company KPLC KenGen

 

 

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