Work has started on the 2,000 km Kenya-Tanzania-Zambia
interconnector link to the South Africa Power Pool to provide opportunities for
trade between the eastern and southern part of the continent.
The $309 million line from Isinya substation in Kenya to
Singida in southern Tanzania is expected to transfer 2,400MW. Ketraco and
Tanzania Electric Supply Company will
oversee the project.
The first steel tower at El-boro on Kenya’s north side in
Moyale built by KEC International Ltd is now linked to a high mast structure
put up on Ethiopia’s border by China Electric Power Equipment and Technology.
Electricity trade among East African states will soon
begin as Ethiopia and Kenya race to finish the stringing of cross-border
high-voltage transmission lines.
Work has started on the 2,000 km Kenya-Tanzania-Zambia
interconnector link to the South Africa Power Pool to provide opportunities for
trade between the eastern and southern part of the continent.
North China Power Engineering Company is doing the line
from Isinya on the outskirts of Nairobi to Namanga town on the border with
Tanzania.
“Survey has started and foundation work on a 93 km, 400
kilovolt (kV) line starts in September 2017. Completion is expected by December
2018,” said Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) managing director
Fernandes Barasa.
The $309 million line from Isinya substation in Kenya to
Singida in southern Tanzania is expected to transfer 2,400MW. Ketraco and
Tanzania Electric Supply Company will oversee the project.
The Tanzanian line is 414 km from Namanga to Singida.
There will be a substation in Arusha and expansion works expected on the
Singida substation to link the two countries’ national grids.
Ketraco said a new line running from Suswa substation
near Naivasha town to Lessos in western Kenya and on to Tororo in eastern
Uganda will be built, with an arm from Lessos near Kapsabet to Kisumu.
Suswa is the distribution point of power from Olkaria,
Olkaria 1 and Olkaria 4 geothermal plants, with an output of about 500MW.
Thermal plants
The Ethiopia-Kenya line and Loiyangalani in northern
Kenya are linked to the Lake Turkana Wind Farm.
The 220 kV Suswa substation, an interchange point, linked
the newly energised line from Suswa-Isinya-Rabai substation at the coast, while
the Suswa-Lessos-Tororo line will deliver electricity to Uganda.
The 400 kV Suswa-Isinya-Rabai facility, initially charged
at 220 kV, will evacuate up to 150 MW of geothermal power from Olkaria to the
coastal region where demand amounts to about 300 megawatts.
The coastal region has been depending on thermal plants
fired by diesel and heavy fuel oil for its power supply.
“The line will improve quality and reliability of power
supply to the Coast by delivering geothermal electricity,” Daniel Tare, the
Kenya Power general manager for network management said.
A 500 kV transmission line spanning 1,200 km from the
Wolayta-Sodo substation in Ethiopia, crossing the border in Kenya’s Moyale
County will deliver electricity to Suswa substation.
Ketraco said $1.2 billion line funded by African
Development Bank and World Bank will have capacity to transfer 2,000 MW from
Ethiopia which has potential of over 11,000 megawatts of hydropower.
Kenya is building a 400 kV line of 127 km from Lessos
substation to Tororo, Uganda, to facilitate export of power to Rwanda. The $49
million line is funded by African Development Bank and the Kenyan government.
This is also part of Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary
Action Programme to ensure power network from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Rwanda will buy 30 MW from Kenya in accordance to signed
agreements. Kenya will be paid by Rwanda 12 US cents per kWh. Uganda will levy
2.08 US cents for transferring the power to Rwanda.
“Interconnections between Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,
Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia are a critical solution to reliable power supply in
future,” David Iraya, the Ketraco project engineer in charge of the
El-boro-Logologo section said.
The first steel tower at El-boro on Kenya’s north side in
Moyale built by KEC International Ltd is now linked to a high mast structure
put up on Ethiopia’s border by China Electric Power Equipment and Technology.
Source: The East African.