There is urgency in rebuilding power network

In 2013, only one Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (above) project was allowed by the UN to trade in the carbon market. FILE 

By Ben Chumo

I read a letter by Muhangani Shilovele in the Business Daily on 6th January touching on security of power supply, and in particular outages that affected a section of Naivasha over Christmas.

As he observed, Kenya Power has been undertaking line construction that will evacuate the relatively cheaper geothermal power that is ready for injection into the national grid.

During construction certain aspects of the work required temporary shutdowns of the power system to facilitate the work.

These stages of work were not deliberately planned to coincide with Christmas but it just so happened. Kenya Power deeply apologises for the inconvenience experienced by holiday makers and revellers affected at the time.

Where we can, we notify customers of any planned outages to facilitate such works, and these appear in the print media at least 48 hours before the actual date.

In extreme cases, these will be announced on radio. During unforeseen system breakdowns or emergency outages, it may not be possible for the company to provide forewarning of such incidences.

The major challenge in power distribution network is that it does not have redundant capacity, which would allow the Company to switch customers to alternative supply lines while undertaking maintenance or repair of the other lines.

We have previously advised customers to bear with frequent planned shutdowns as we endeavour to renew the network. The government very well understands the need for clean and secure energy to power the aspirations of Vision 2030.

Under the on-going multi-billion- shilling Energy Sector Recovery Project and Kenya Electricity Expansion Project and other initiatives, the government and Kenya Power have completed many projects, while many more are in progress to rehabilitate and rebuild a distribution network that meets international benchmarks.

It is useful to note that the line under construction in Naivasha is meant to connect the relatively cheaper geothermal power to the grid, which is part of the government’s concerted effort to ease power bills for customers.

Parallel to this initiative to create a robust distribution network, the government has decided to take drastic action to develop an additional 5,000 megawatts by 2017 to assure self-sufficiency.

There is urgency in implementation of these projects and if done “gradually” as suggested, we will forever be behind schedule in underpinning the fast growing economy that demands a more robust generation and distribution system like yesterday.

Dr Chumo is the Managing Director & CEO, Kenya Power.