Kenya Power has tendered for the fourth phase of its Last Mile electricity connection project.
The phase estimated to cost Sh26.8 billion seeks benefit an additional 280,473 households across 32 counties.
The project will involve installation of 940 new transformers, maximising the 3,735 existing transformers, and constructing associated power lines in the identified counties.
The project is set to commence in November this year and will be fully funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Last Mile Connectivity Programme is a government flagship project initiated in 2015 to provide affordable connection in rural and peri-urban areas.
It was also aimed at accelerating universal electricity access to drive social economic growth in line with the country’s 2030 development agenda.
"The programme is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 7, which aims at providing access to clean and affordable energy for all," Kenya Power said in a statement.
It notes that more than one million Kenyan households have so far been connected to electricity under the first three phases of the programme.
This was under the funding of the government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.
"It contributed to the rapid expansion of the country’s network giving electricity access to over 75 per cent of the population, up from a low of 29 per cent in 2012, ranking Kenya among the world’s top countries in electricity connection growth rate," said the distributor.
A recent Project Impact Evaluation done by AfDB shows there has been an 83 per cent increase in the use of electricity for lighting.
Additionally, access to electricity, according to the report, has increased the probability of children studying at night by about 45 per cent.
Similarly, the use of electricity for agricultural activities such as irrigation went up by about 17 per cent.
Data by the distributor further shows the project improved the firm's bottom line business, with sales accrued over four years totalling over Sh1.1 billion from 53.08GHrs of electricity sold to customers connected under the programme.
