Weed island causes Uganda blackout


Issue 413 - 17 Apr 2020 | 1 minute read

Uganda suffered a nationwide power outage on 14 April after a giant floating mass of vegetation blocked water intake screens at the Nalubaale hydropower station, putting the country’s three main power plants out of action. Eskom Uganda said the water weed island had been carried by rising water levels in Lake Victoria. Power was lost at the 380MW Kiira-Nalubaale complex, and at the 250MW Bujagali plant downstream.The outage meant a national broadcast by President Yoweri Museveni on the coronavirus crisis had to be delayed by an hour.

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