Eskom probes power blackout

JINJA. Eskom Uganda Limited, the firm that operates and maintains both Nalubaale and Kiira hydro-power stations, has apologised for the hitches that caused a countrywide power blackout for about three hours on Wednesday evening.
Most of the country’s major towns, including Kampala, Jinja, Masaka and Arua, were plunged into mass blackout, which the operators of the power stations said was the first since Eskom took over 13 years ago.
The two stations supply 67 per cent of the country’s hydro-electricity.

Eskom’s managing director Thozama Gangi told the press at Nalubaale Dam in Jinja on Thursday that the system had developed problems which led to loss of 163 Megawatts of power at both Nalubaale and Kiira dams.
She said only one generation unit with 40 megawatts at Kiira had remained running during the period of the blackout.
“The system was triggered by a buzz zone protection trip in the 132 KV sub-station. An inspection was carried out, but no permanent fault was found on the bus bar involved in the incident,” she said.

However, she said Eskom has launched an investigation to establish what caused the problem.
Eskom’s operations manager, Mr Peter Tentena, dismissed speculation about technical hitches having been caused by aging machinery, especially at Nalubaale dam which was commissioned in 1954 by Queen Elizabeth II.
He admitted the equipment is old, but said Eskom has been upgrading and maintaining it. He said by 5:30pm on Thursday, the Kiira station was generating 74 Megawatts, while Nalubaale was producing 80 Megawatts.
He said both stations will be generating 285 Megawatts at peak hour.

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