•LTWP was entitled to the payments for deemed generated energy from May 2017, having waived some days for the line completed in January 2017.
•The payment was over €6,173,293 (Sh790 million in the current exchange rate) which Kenya Power has failed to collect.
Image: FILE
Kenya Power is on the spot for giving Lake Turkana Wind Power the wrong bank details for the refund of an excess Sh790 million it paid in idle energy.
The government paid Sh10.3 billion for deemed generated energy after Kenya Electricity Transmission Company delayed the construction of a transmission line.
LTWP was entitled to the payments for deemed generated energy from May 2017, having waived some days for the line completed in January 2017.
The payment was over €6,173,293 (Sh790 million in the current exchange rate) which Kenya Power has failed to collect.
In a letter seen by the Star, LTWP chief executive Phylip Leferink wants Kenya Power to provide the correct account details for the refund.
He said the firm paid the monies on December 9 last year using the bank details provided by Kenya Power in a letter on November 8 last year.
“However, LTWP’s bank said on December 23 last year the payment had been returned due to insufficient bank details,” Leferink said in the letter to Kenya Power MD Rosemary Oduor.
The power utility firm had sought the money be paid in Euros to Standard Chartered Bank Frankfurt to account name Central Bank of Kenya through number 500040205.
Leferink said they communicated to KPLC on December 23 that the payment had been returned and they provide the additional banking details.
However, the power utility was yet to respond as of January 18, despite two other inquiries made on January 3 and January 12.
The letter was copied to Energy PS Gordon Kihalangwa and his Treasury counterpart Julius Muia.
KPLC is expected to appear before the Public Investments Committee to answer queries of why it had delayed to collect the cash.
The committee is reviewing an audit report that flagged variations in the LTWP project leading to the Sh10.3 billion taxpayers footed in idle power.
Oduor, in her response to LTWP, confirmed receipt of the communication about the investor’s inability to transmit the refunds successfully.
“Please note the challenge has been shared with the Ministry of Energy requesting additional details from the Central Bank. We will communicate further details to you in due course of this matter,” the January 27 letter obtained by the Star reads.
Public Investments Committee members raised concerns over the delays saying they suspect individuals eyeing the interests accruing from the excess payment were staging the delays.
“We highly believe, the delay is deliberate so that someone can reap the interest accruing from the account,” PIC chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said.
“We expect Kenya Power to shed light on this matter and explain why they have delayed collecting the money which stands to facilitate services to Kenyans.”
The issue emerged when Ketraco appeared for the review of the audit queries arising from the country’s largest privately-owned windpower project.
The electricity transmission company has been blamed for the delays that saw Kenyans pay more cash as a result of idle energy.
Ketraco acting managing director Antony Wamukota is expected to appear before PIC next Tuesday to shed light on the matter.
He is expected to give the transmission’s company justification for the delays that caused the extra payment.
This is even as MPs questioned why immediate former Ketraco MD Fernandes Barasa quit office a day to the committee’s sitting.
At the heart of the probe is to unearth the genesis of the variations and whether Ketraco informed the Energy Ministry on the impact of the variations.
It has emerged state officials at the ministry ordered the contract changed and the transmission line built by Ketraco.
PS Kihalangwa recently confirmed in a session in Parliament during a meeting with PIC.
“It is true the line was to be done concurrently with the power plant. LTWP was to build the line, but it was removed from the responsibility,” the PS said.
The PS said a transmission line should be built alongside a power station for complementarities.
“The wind power plant and the line were to be completed at the same time to avoid idle power generation,” he said.
The other question MPs want answered was the motivation behind introducing Ketraco into the privately-owned project, whose feasibility report is yet to be traced.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris