Business Daily (Nairobi)
Zeddy Sambu
12 March 2008
Electricity distributor, Kenya Power & Lighting Company has embarked on a Sh1.9 billion project to increase reliability and quality of power supply in the economy.
It has hired ABB, the Swedish power equipment producer, to instal a fibre optic control system for its transmission lines to curb frequent power interruptions that are estimated to cost the economy more than Sh5 billion a year.
The control system will be managed from five control centres in Nairobi, Mombasa, Mt Kenya region and Lessos in Western Kenya.
Upon completion, other towns served by the national grid including Naivasha, Nakuru, Kisii, Eldoret, and Nyeri as well as Tororo, Uganda, will have redundant computer systems equipped with an ABB network manager software for control, analysis and enhancement.
"It will provide a national backbone for KPLC to efficiently manage and operate its network," Mr Don Priestman, the KPLC general manager said.
The system is particularly expected to enable the power distributor to maintain efficient delivery of electricity during high load increases in the morning as well as manage load decreases at night .
Installation of a fibre optic network also paves the way for the power firm to become a major player in the telecommunications sector where it is expected to offer data transmission services alone or in partnership with one of the players.
KPLC chief executive, Mr Don Priestman, said the company would work with regulators and other stakeholders to bring extra capacity for telecommunications and broadband services into the market.
KPLC's fibre optic cable will have a capacity of 48 fibres, 12 of which will serve the company, leaving the rest for the telecom operators. It is to be installed above the high voltage lines.
The system upgrade is being financed with the help of European Investment Bank to the tune of Sh10 billion under the Energy Sector Recovery Programme.
Power consumption is expected to rise steadily from 5.1 billion kilowatt hours in 2005 to 6.9 billion kilowatt hours by 2010.
Peak demand will rise from 983 MW in 2005 to 2,397 MW in 2025, thanks to vibrancy in Kenya's economy.
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