An incident that caused damage to power transmission towers left 22 companies operating in Bole-Lemi Industrial Park without electricity. Residents of Summit Condominium, Bole Arabsa, Goro, ICT Park, Gerji Weregenu and Gerji Kazanchis also went dark due to the power interruption.

A transmission tower collapsed after burglars attempted to steal equipment from it, according to Mogos Mekonen, communications director at Ethiopian Electric Power.

"A high voltage power transmission tower, capable of carrying 132KV, fell apart and caused further damage to another tower,” Mogos said.

The Industrial Park, which runs on 25MWh of power a day, is now without any direct power. Factories operating in the Industrial Park are using backup generators to stay operational for the time being, according to Tinsae Yimam, general manager of the Park.

Shints ETP Garment Plc, a Korean textile company that started operations in October 2015, is one of the factories that is suffering from the power disruption. The company is currently using a generator to deal with the power supply shortage.

“The generator doesn’t generate enough power, and our factory couldn’t fully operate,” said Tesfayesus Yitbarek, HR manager at Shints.

Shints occupies five sheds in the Park, two of which serve as finishing rooms, another two as computer-aided design and automatic fabric cutting sites, while the last one serves as a warehouse. The factory, which exports to Europe and the United States, has decreased its working hours and its production due to the power supply shortage. It also has reduced the operation of its finishing rooms.

The problems became more complicated following the diesel shortage in the capital since the generators require fuel, according to Tinsae.

"Factories within the Industrial Park aren't obtaining enough oil for the generators," said Tinsae. “If it weren't for some reserves in their tanks, the factories would have stopped operations entirely."

Shints Garment Plc, which needs 2,500lt of oil a day for its generator, is on the verge of halting production because of the oil supply shortage in the market.