- Siror said the government had given its approval for a significant investment to reduce the line distance between Kibos and Awendo.
- He said the proposed solution involved the installation of a new transmission line from Olkaria to Narok.
Image: LEAH MUTASHI
Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror has provided an explanation for recent power outages and rationing in various parts of Kenya, particularly in the Western Kenya and South Nyanza regions.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Siror attributed these challenges to constraints in the transmission network.
"Most of the regions I have mentioned are mostly served by renewable sources of energy, including geothermal power in Olkaria, which uses a longer route from Kibos in Kisumu to Awendo, a distance of about 500 kilometers," he said.
Siror explained that longer transmission lines are more prone to issues, and in this case, the line between Kibos and Awendo faces constraints in capacity.
"One of the main constraints against serving the Kisii region is that the link between Muhoroni and Chemosit is constrained in capacity," he noted.
"The transmission link is unable to evacuate all the power that is required in that part of the country."
Additionally, he mentioned that most of the regions are primarily supplied with power from variable-renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and water, hence the frequent experience of power supply issues.
Siror cited the Lake Turkana Wind Power plant, where he pointed out that on Tuesday, October 17, the wind conditions were insufficient to generate the typical 300 Mega Watts of power. Instead, the plant could only produce approximately 60 Mega Watts.
In this specific situation, he explained that the power company is compelled to implement power consumption reduction measures.
"Some of the variable-renewable energy sources, such as wind at night but during the day solar, sometimes result in low generation, and we have to manage power supply," Siror said.
"Tonight we have a very low wind output in Lake Turkana; the generation is rated at 300 Mega Watts, but this time it is about 60 MW."
He offered reassurance to the public by disclosing that the government had given its approval for a significant investment of Sh16 billion to reduce the line distance between Kibos and Awendo from around 500 kilometres to a much shorter 80 kilometres through the establishment of a more efficient link.
"As an assurance to the residents, we have been in conversation with the government, and I want to assure you that last week, the cabinet approved Sh16 billion," he stated.
He added that there was a situation where Awendo was served by a transmission line spanning close to 500 kilometres, even though the distance from Awendo to Olkaria was only about 200 kilometres.
Siror further explained that the proposed solution involved the installation of a new transmission line from Olkaria to Narok, covering a distance of approximately 60 kilometres.
"What is missing is a link between Narok and Bomet, a distance of about 80 km. Part of the Sh16 billion will address the link. By having a shorter link, we will reduce transmission losses," Siror pointed out.