Kenya Power plans Sh20 billion cable network in war on rising vandalism

Kenya Power plans to spend Sh20 billion on an underground power cable network that will address challenges of vandalism and interruption of electricity.

The power distributor said it would replace its overhead power lines with underground cables starting with the central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu.
“The project will mean improved quality and reliability of supply owing to reduced transient faults and system disturbances,” said Mr Joseph Njoroge, the managing director of Kenya Power.

He said it would reduce contact on the grid from environmental ingredients like trees and buildings. It would also be less susceptible to adverse weather like thunderstorms that often result in power outages

The terrestrial cabling project comes as good news to businesses and power consumers who have to contend with frequent power outages owing to deficient electricity transmission networks.

The underground cabling scheme in the three cities will cover a total of 635 kilometres of 11 kV lines — those that connect power to transformers — and 1,570 kilometres of low voltage lines, which connect transformers to consumers.

Environment friendly
Underground cables are considered environment friendly as they remove the need for timber poles, pruning of trees to make way for lines, and reduce emissions from electromagnetic fields.

The project follows the success of a 2.5 kilometre pilot project connecting State House, Nairobi, to the Laico Regency substation which has seen the seat of power go without supply interruptions since May last year.

Kenya Power said it was still working on the designs of the cable network which will take about six months. The electricity retailer said it will use internal sources and funding from partners to implement the project.

Yesterday, the firm held consultations with various infrastructural development stakeholders to map out a strategy on sharing resources.

Kenya Power is considering a proposal by China National Machinery Equipment Import and Export Corporation to carry out underground cabling of Nairobi.

The power firm’s transmission and distribution costs surged 14 per cent from Sh7.7 billion to Sh8.8 billion in the six months to December last year.

The underground cable would help save up to Sh3 billion annually.