Workers arrange imported steel to build power transmission towers for the Ketraco project. The Mombasa-Nairobi line is expected to ease outages. Githua Kihara
State-owned electricity transmitter Ketraco has started construction of a Sh11 billion Mombasa-Nairobi power line that will have capacity to handle 1,500 mega watts of power— which is more than Kenya’s total installed capacity.
Indian based engineering firm, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, which is working on part of the 450 kilometre transmission line, has already built 25 foundations for transmission towers that will be erected from mid next month.
The project, which is one of about 23 others that the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) is undertaking around the country, is expected to be completed by mid next year.
“This is our biggest project so far, but we have many others going on around the country,” said Joel Kiilu, chief executive of Ketraco.
The power transmission firm was hived-off from Kenya Power to exclusively build infrastructure for high voltage electricity transmission.
Kenya Power retained the role of a power distributor in charge of smaller voltage lines for connecting end-users. The Mombasa-Nairobi line will be used to transmit up-country high voltage power generated from the coast. There are plans to set up a 300MW coal plant in Mombasa, which is also home to thermal power generation plants at Kipevu and Rabai.
Location of thermal generators at the coast will cut transportation costs incurred by in-land based diesel power producers, potentially benefiting consumers through cheaper electricity tariffs.
“It will be cheaper and easier to generate power at the cost and transmit it through this line,” said Mr Kiilu. Funding for the projects has been sourced from the Treasury, European Investment Bank, French Development Bank (ADB), Africa Development bank (AfDB).
The project will also include the construction of new transmission lines from Isinya to Embakasi substation in Nairobi and the expansion of the Rabai and Embakasi substations. A new sub-station will be constructed at Mariakani on a 200 acre land that Ketraco has already acquired from local authorities.
The two existing lines in use today have limited transfer capacity of 100 MW, limiting the capacity to generate power from the Coastal region.
About three power generation plants with a combined capacity of 290 MW are planned to start generation by the time the transmission line is built
“The Mombasa-Nairobi transmission line project is central to the country’s power infrastructure development plan since future thermal plants will be installed in Mombasa area near the port facilities,” said Raphael Mworia, Ketraco corporate communications manager.
The current peak electric power demand is estimated at 1,180 MW and it is projected to grow at 7 per cent annually over the next 10 years, to reach 2,263MW by 2018.
A feasibility study on the establishment of a 300 MW coal power plant in Mombasa shows that the plant will require 0.9 to 1.1 million tonnes of coal per year, all of which will be landed at the Mombasa port and transported to the power station.
Courtesy of Business Daily
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