Local firms to supply poles, cables for rural electrification project

Local firms are set to supply close to half-a-million wooden poles and 48,000 kilometres of cables as Kenya Power prepares to start connecting thousands of homes to the national electricity grid at cut price in three months.

Under an initiative dubbed Last Mile Connectivity project, Kenya Power will light up homes for Sh15,000, down from Sh35,000 and will allow those connected to pay the fee over 36 months.

“Kenya Power will commence the implementation of the Last Mile Connectivity project from April 2016 on turnkey basis as part of the government’s plan to improve connectivity coverage from the current 40 per cent to 70 per cent by December 2017,” Ben Chumo, Kenya Power managing director said on Tuesday.

“Local manufacturers should therefore prepare to participate in the process…to be forewarned is to be forearmed,” he said.

The plan was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in May 2015 but has faced implementation delays.

Under the scheme Kenya Power will install additional transformers and power lines closer to unconnected homes through a cheaper technology known as single wire earthing return (SWER).

The Sh15,000 fee is set to remove a major hurdle to acceleration of rural electrification and spur village economies as residents open up businesses like welding, barber shops, hotels and cybercafès.

READ: Kenya Power to start connecting homes at Sh15,000

The SWER technology has enabled the power utility to cut the cost of connectivity to homes located within 600 metres of a transformer.

SWER uses single, thinner and lighter cables as opposed to the current system that uses two or four cables to connect domestic consumers.

Kenya Power will further cut costs by using fewer poles that will be spaced 100 metres apart, instead of the current 50 metres, due to the lighter wire load.

Unlike the past when home owners had to make applications for connection, Kenya Power will now approach potential customers in the neighbourhood and offer to hook them to the grid.

Under this new initiative, consumers have an option of paying the Sh15,000 upfront or in instalments through their monthly bills.

Households where wiring has not been done will be issued with a “ready board” that comes with sockets and bulb holders, Kenya Power said.

Kenya Power targets to connect 314,200 homes by next year in what will increase homes with electricity to about 4.5 million, up from one million in 2010.

The first phase of the project is valued at Sh15.3 billion ($150 million) and will be completed next year. The total cost of the project stands at Sh34 billion, and will see a total of 814,000 homes hooked to the grid.

The project will require about 480,000 pieces of treated wooden poles.

The planned increase in home connections to the national grid comes as the country mulls increasing power capacity to more than 6,000 megawatts by 2017, up from the current 2,294 megawatts.