Most residents of Juba reported a total electricity blackout in their residential areas. | Courtesy.

Juba Electricity Distribution Company said a technical malfunction in one of the power-generating engines caused a power outage in the capital on Thursday.

Juba plunged into darkness from 5 PM on Thursday until Friday morning – in the first major power disruption since the beginning of this year.

The electricity distributor has also apologized to customers for the inconvenience caused and assured them that they are doing everything possible to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

According to JEDCO, the power blackout was due to a technical failure in one of its four generators.

“What happened yesterday was unexpected, that one of the generators was having a technical fault because we are using four big generators, so one of the generators was having a technical fault,” said Joseph Thomas, the Public Relations and Marketing Manager at JEDCO.

Thomas added that when the outage occurred, the electricity consumption load increased and caused the generator to shut down.

“When it happened, immediately the consumption load was high and get back to the pow plant station and the power strip, that is why there was a total blackout, and the team did an emergency restoration of the generator and start working again.”

But he said the power went out again leading to total outage throughout the city.

Thomas told Eye Radio that the electricity distributor is currently working to repair the generator and restore power to the affected areas.

The power outage was felt across various residential areas – impacting the daily activities of residents and businesses in Juba town.

The company says the cause of the generator’s failure is also still being investigated.