Sh9bn geothermal line to curb Western Kenya blackouts
Mr Joel Kiilu, Ketraco managing director. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
Construction of the high voltage power line will start in May and is set for completion in June 2017.
The new line will help reduce the dependence on the weather linked hydro power plant and expensive thermal plant to feed western Kenya with power.
A new Sh8.5 billion power line will link geothermal power plants in Olkaria to Kisumu to stave off frequent power blackouts in Western Kenya.
Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco) says construction of the high voltage power line will start in May and is set for completion in June 2017.
Even though Kenya is struggling with an ageing energy infrastructure that often limits efforts to improve supply to attract investments, the western part of the country has been hit hardest.
The zone will now be linked to the additional geothermal power following the commission of 280 megawatts plants with a substation in Kibos, Kisumu, nearly 300 km from Olkaria.
“The line will evacuate geothermal power from Olkaria II to enhance power capacity in Kisumu. The current line is only able to transmit 75 megawatts,” said Joel Kiilu, managing director Ketraco.
“The new line has a transmission capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Apart from supplying power to Western Kenya, it will also link up with Rwanda from the Lessos substation,” he added.
The Olkaria-Lessos-Kisumu project is a 400kV transmission line funded by Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) and will be built by India’s Kalpaturi Power Transmission Company and two Chinese firms—NARI Group and Sieyuan Electric Company.
The western region relies on power from the rain -dependant Sondu Miriu hydro power plant and the 30 megawatts diesel driven Aggreko plant.
The new line will help reduce the dependence on the weather linked hydro power plant and expensive thermal plant to feed western Kenya with power.
“Geothermal is the best source of power. It is stable and very affordable,” said Mr Kiilu.
The 280 megawatts, added to the national grid between July and early December have increased the share of geothermal power to 51 per cent of the electricity consumed in December, up from 14 per cent in the same month in 2013.
Hydro power stands at 41 and thermal at 10 per cent, down from 37 per cent in December 2013.
The government intends to add an extra 5,000 megawatts capacity by 2017 from about 1,664 megawatts now, in a bid to cut the cost of doing business.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
