Kenya Electricity Transmission Company has contracted Chinese firm North China Power Engineering Company to construct a 96 kilometre power transmission line running between Isinya and Namanga at a cost of Sh2.6 billion.
This is part of the Kenya-Tanzania inter-connector line that will hook Kenya’s national electricity grid to the Southern Africa Power Pool. The high voltage transmission line has a total length of 510km, of which 96km are in Kenya and about 414km in Tanzania.
The Kenyan component of the interconnector project is being financed by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and African Development Bank (AfDB) at a cost of Sh439.4 million and Sh2.2 billion ($22,428,704) respectively. This is a split from the Tanzania component which is estimated to cost approximately $258.82 million (Sh26.2 billion). The total cost of the project is approximately Sh30.9 billion ($309.26 million).
Ketraco Chief Executive Fernandes Barasa said the Kenya-Tanzania interconnector transmission line will enable Kenya tap into electricity generated using cheap sources from neighbouring countries and play part in bringing down the cost of power.
“The project will improve power supply, reliability and affordability in Kenya from renewable surplus power from neighbouring countries,” he said.