Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Power has launched a back-up National Control Centre to safeguard the security of electricity supply across the country.
The backup control centre, located at the Coast, will provide an alternative power dispatch point in case of failure of the main National Control Centre.
Additionally, the facility will serve as a training centre to boost power system operators’ capacity and technical skills, according to management.
The backup facility has been set up at a cost of Sh50 million, financed by a grant from GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation).
This is under the Power System Readiness for Integration of Variable Renewable Energies (VRE) project, which is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.
“Our grid is expanding rapidly with increased customer numbers and this calls for the deployment of strategic initiatives that are meant to secure and strengthen the quality of power supply,” Kenya Power’s managing director and CEO Joseph Siror said.
He said the utility firm is also focused on strengthening the network through refurbishment of the existing infrastructure and construction of new lines, to provide alternative supply points to customers to minimise power outages.
The country needs at least $5.3 billion (Sh696.9 billion-current exchange rate) to overhaul power transmission lines and forestall frequent blackouts, according to the Energy Ministry.
The government however currently only has $250 million (Sh32.8 billion) for grid upgrades.
This means blackouts cannot be avoided at the moment, incidences that have proved to be costly to Kenyans and businesses which count millions in losses whenever the power id down.
Last year, the country experienced at least three major national blackouts that hit even key installations such as the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
According to Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir, low investment in the maintenance of transmission lines is to blame for the outages.
“We have not invested much in the networks. We plan on giving out a number of networks to be built by private firms. This will ease pressure for more funding from the state,” Chirchir at media briefing on Wednesday
The National Control Centre is a facility where electricity from various generation sources is dispatched to consumers across the country.
The dispatch is guided by a merit order that considers various factors such as cost and demand.
It is considered a best practice and also a requirement of most Grid Codes across the world for electricity utilities to operate backup national control centres, to secure the reliability of their power supply.
With the commissioning of the backup centre, Kenya becomes the first country within the East African Community to comply with this requirement.
Other countries in Africa that operate backup national control centres include South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Egypt.
Kenya Power has extended its transmission and distribution network across the country, covering over 306,00 kilometres.
As of December 2023, the company had over 9.5 million accounts and had enabled over 76 per cent of the country’s population to access the national grid.
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