The Loiyangalani – Suswa project complements Kenya’s commitment to increase electricity generation to 5,000MW, and is critical for achieving the Big Four Agenda on sustainable development

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Image: The project is aimed at increasing electricity supply, quality, reliability and a reduction of power cost in Kenya. Photo: Courtesy of Bishnu Sarangi from Pixabay.

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has launched the Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission infrastructure project worth KES28bn (£217m).

The Loiyangalani Suswa project is 75% funded by the Kenyan Government and 25% funded by the Spanish Government.

The project, which is aimed at increasing electricity supply, quality, reliability and a reduction of power cost in Kenya, is designed to transmit 310MW power, approximately 15% of the installed capacity in Kenya.

KETRACO said in a statement: “The project that compliments the Government’s commitment to increase electricity generation to 5,000MW is part of Kenya’s Vision 2030 flagship projects, as well as being critical for achieving the Big Four Agenda on sustainable development.

“The Big Four Agenda together with the Strategic Development Goals, or SDGs, are in line with KETRACO’s mandate as outlined in the Strategic Plan 2015/2016 – 2019-2020 that identifies national development challenges in the electricity sub-sector that need to be addressed for Kenya to achieve its goal of being a middle-income, industrialized and prosperous economy.”

The project is designed to harness the efficient, clean and affordable source of wind energy, from the Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP).

The wind farm is located in Loiyangalani area, spanning over 40,000 acres of communal land, equipped with 365 wind turbines, of 850kW capacity each.

The 400kV Loiyangalani Suswa project is a 438Km transmission line that carries 310MW of power from LTWP to Suswa substation in Kajiado County, crossing six counties including Marsabit, Samburu, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Nakuru, Narok and Kajiado.

With Siemens S.A.S (France) as the contractor, the construction on the Loiyangalani substation began in 2015, while that of the Suswa substation started in 2012.

KETRACO stated: “The initial completion date was October 10, 2016 but was extended due to challenges from the contractor’s end. KETRACO later signed a contract with the Consortium of NARI Group Corporation and Power China Guizhou Engineering Company Limited for the completion of the line before August 31, 2018.”

Following its incorporation in 2008, KETRACO has completed transmission lines totalling 2,315Km and currently, 2,000km lines are under construction.