Contract to restart stalled Kenyan transmission project
Kenya has contracted a consortium of Chinese companies to complete the construction of a major transmission line that will evacuate electricity from the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project, which stalled in 2016, when the previous contractor, Italian company Isolux Ingeneria, went bankrupt.
The consortium, comprising NARI Group Corporation and Power China Guizhou Engineering Company, will be responsible for completing the $150-million Loiyangalani–Suswa power line. The contract was signed with State-owned Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco).
The 428 km 400 kV line is about 70% complete and the Chinese companies are required to complete it by August.
“We expect the line to be ready by August so that the LTWP project can be connected to the national grid,” says Ketraco MD Fernandes Barasa.
The wind farm is expected to provide reliable, low-cost energy for Kenyans over a 20-year period, in accordance with the power purchase agreement signed with electricity utility Kenya Power.
Isolux was awarded the contract in 2011 and was supposed to complete the project in 23 months.
Kenya, which is highly dependent on hydroelectricity, is desperate to tap electricity from Africa’s largest wind farm to arrest rising electricity costs caused by a severe drought that has led to a drastic decline in water levels at hydropower schemes, forcing the country to resort to expensive thermal generation.
The cost of electricity has increased by 22% over the past 12 months and could increase further this year.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation