KPC plans automation of its drainage systems to check spills

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) will automate drainage systems at its seven depots across the country as it seeks to curb accidents and pollution caused by spillage of products.

The move comes as the firm grapples with a landmark court case in which survivors of a fire accident in Nairobi’s Sinai slums are demanding compensation following the incident on September 12, 2011 in which more than 100 people died after an oil spill from a section of its pipeline.

KPC said the project will involve the installation of special spillage control equipment at its pump stations at Kipevu, Nairobi, Moi International Airport, Embakassi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu.

“The objectives of this project are to contain any spillage occurring within our facility into storm drain system and recover it safely, determine contents of storm drain system before allowing controlled drainage from our facilities to municipalities’ common drainage system and avoid environmental pollution and accidents,” the firm said in a brief on the project without providing its cost.

It further said: “The objective of the project is to have early warning of leakage and location for effective intervention and maintain safe working environment within and without to avoid litigation.”

KPC is currently upgrading its storage and pipeline infrastructure to match the rising petroleum demand locally and in the region.

A consortium led by India’s Prashanth Project Ltd has started the Sh4.8 billion ($53 million) expansion of KPC’s fuel terminal in Nairobi to hold more petroleum products when a new pipeline from Mombasa becomes operational in 2016.

The project involves building four storage tanks with a total capacity of 133.52 million litres — an equivalent of 22 per cent of KPC’s total national capacity of 612.32 million litres.

The Nairobi terminal with a capacity of 100,528 cubic metres is currently the second largest after the Kipevu oil storage facility that holds 326,333 cubic metres of petroleum products.

The expansion of KPC’s terminal in Nairobi would help address the congestion at Kipevu.

The capacity expansion drive has also been directed at the existing main fuel pipelines. KPC recently awarded the tender for the construction of a new 45 kilometre pipeline between Nairobi and Mombasa to Lebanon’s Zakhem International.

READ: KPC signs Sh43b contract with Zakhem for new pipeline

Construction of a new pipeline between Mombasa and Nairobi is considered critical in stabilising fuel supply to the capital and the rest of the country.

Many of the products from the refinery in Mombasa currently have to be trucked to countries in the region, which is slow and unreliable due to the breakdown of trucks and damaged roads.

KPC also plans to construct a 122-kilometre pipeline between Kisumu and Sinendet to meet an increased demand of petroleum products in the region. The oil firm said the pipeline that is expected to have a diametre of 10 inches would be extended to Busia.

In another upcoming project, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda plan to jointly construct a 784-kilometre pipeline to transport refined petroleum products from Eldoret to several markets in the region.

A joint commission co-ordinating the project said the pipeline will extend from Eldoret to Kampala and onwards to Kigali with several storage terminals also planned for construction along the route.

“The new pipeline will be an extension of the western Kenya pipeline system at Eldoret which is owned and operated by the Kenya Pipeline Company” the commission said.