There may be hope for the Turkana wind project as a Spanish Engineering firm takes the reins for a KES 5 billion sub-station initiative. According to a report by the Daily Nation, Iberdrola Ingenieria y Contraccion (Iberdrola Engineering and Construction), recently signed a deal with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) for the construction of four new sub-stations. The project will be used to draw power from several power plants including the Turkana wind farm.
Wind Power Project Still Has Support
The World Bank had recently pulled out from the Lake Turkana Wind Project (LTWP), leaving the initiative without a guarantor. Nevertheless, KETRACO Managing Director, Joel Kiilu said that the LTWP still maintains support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), one of the projects three lenders. The other lenders include South African-based Ned Bank and Standard Bank. According to KPMG and MBendi, South Africa has a 25% stake in the wind project.
On the other hand the Iberdrola merger will see the construction of a 220 Kilovolt ring around the Nairobi metropolitan area to be funded jointly by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Kenya government.
Kenya Power reports that the national grid is currently linked by a 220 Kilovolt and 132 Kilovolt transmission network. The power provider also has 66 Kilovolt lines. The entire network covers more than 41,000 Kilometers across various parts of the country.
The new sub-stations will allow the ring to transmit electricity to other parts of the country from the ongoing Turkana wind farm, Ethiopia and the yet to be completed Olkaria geothermal power plant.
Kenya’s demand for power currently stands at about 1250 Megawatts against a demand of 1700 Megawatts. Kenya Power hopes to deal with the remaining 450 MW using green energy from the geothermal plant and the wind farm. The Olkaria plant will produce about 280 MW of power while the Turkana wind farm should provide 300 MW.
“It should only be fair to reduce the burden on our customers,” said Kenya Power Chief Manager of Distribution, Benson Muriithi during the company’s announcement on cutting tariffs.
The move comes shortly after the World Bank approved plans for the construction of transmission lines linking Kenya to Ethiopia. Meanwhile, KETRACO is currently working on a tender for the extension of Lessos substation, a project that will link power grids between Kenya and Uganda.