2008 Zanzibar Power blackout
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Zanzibar Power blackout was an extensive power outage
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...

 on Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

During May and June 2008, Zanzibar suffered a period of almost one month without mains electricity due to a grid failure which left the entire island dependent on alternative methods of electricity generation (mainly diesel generators). Power failed on 21 May 2008 after a wide-area grid failure across the Tanzanian network was followed by a power surge which damaged the submarine interconnector cable that links the Tanzanian mainland and Zanzibar.

The power was eventually restored on 19 June 2008, however concerns remain about the fragility of the island's transmission infrastructure, its near total dependence on the mainland for its electricity generation, and the capacity and condition of the ageing interconnector that links the mainland electricity network and the island grid.

Effects

Tourism in Zanzibar
Tourism in Zanzibar
Tourism in Zanzibar includes the tourism industry and its effects on the islands of Unguja and Pemba in the United Republic of Tanzania. Tourism is the top income generator for the islands, outpacing even the lucrative agricultural export industry...

, the main income generating activity on the islands, was seriously disrupted by the outage. Other important industries, including the Zanzibar Electric Company and independent small businesses were "severely hit" by the blackout. The island's semi-autonomous government was criticized for its lack of preparedness and dependence on power from mainland Tanzania.

Recurrence in 2009

On 10 December 2009, Zanzibar was again plunged into darkness because of failure of the undersea cable. On 23 December 2009, the Isles Minister of Energy and Construction, Mansour Yussuf Himid, was quoted in the Daily News newspaper published in Dar es Salaam as saying that the blackout would last until the end of february while a critical spare part known as a "splitter" was being sourced from overseas. He was also quoted as saying that the undersea cable was dilapidated and needed to be replaced entirely.

The undersea cable had a projected working life of 25 years when laid in 1976. It has now served for almost 35 years, ten years after it was due to be replaced.

The power in Zanzibar was restored in March, 2010.
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