According to East Africa Report, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has signed an $89 million (ZAR1 billion) deal to construct a 313km high voltage transmission line across Kenya by 2017.
The line will connect Kenya’s geothermal power plants in the Olkaria Region to Western Kenya, expanding electricity access to those communities who are not yet grid connected.
KETRACO said in a statement that “this project will also serve as the backbone for regional power interconnection among the countries in the region”.
The transmission project is being financed by the Kenyan government and the Japan International Corporation Agency.
Across East Africa there is a series of power projects underway including transmission lines from Ethiopia, which will connect to the large hydroelectric dam projects as well as connecting Kenya to Rwanda and Tanzania and Uganda.
The Kenyan government aims to meet the nation’s growing energy demand by increasing the country’s current generation capacity of 1,664MW by an additional 5,000MW by 2017.