Power firm reserves billions worth of tenders for locals

Contractors in the energy sector stand to win big as State power distributor, Kenya Power, lines up billions of shillings worth of tenders targeting local contractors.

This comes following a directive by the Government to cede 40 per cent of public infrastructure development projects to local developers in order to grow the local economy.

Kenya Power CEO Ben Chumo, while signing contracts with seven local contractors that have been awarded close to Sh3.3 billion worth of tenders, announced that the utility firm has lined up at least Sh28 billion worth of tenders to connect more than 600,000 households countrywide to the national grid.

The ambitious project, which is expected to be implemented over the next 18 months, he said, will have a large portion of the business reserved for local developers.

“We want to have these projects done by local companies and have the money circulate in our economy because they have the capacity to do the job,” explained Chumo.

Phase one

To begin with, Kenya Power has awarded Sh3.3 billion worth of projects to seven local contractors as part of phase one of the project, which seeks to have the percentage of Kenyan households connected to electricity raised from the current 40 per cent to 70 per cent over the next two years.

The projects involve the setting up of 12 sub-stations across the country and will be funded by capital raised internally by Kenya Power.

“We are going to keenly follow how the contractors that have been awarded the tenders execute their projects and how they perform will determine whether or not they get future tenders,” he said.

Chumo further stated that a Sh13.5 billion last mile connectivity project funded by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) is expected to commence, with local contractors expected to take the bulk of the workload.

High standard

“We are set to begin work on phase one of the last mile connectivity and this is another Sh13.5 billion that can go to our local developers in addition to phase two which is worth another Sh14.5 billion secured from the World Bank,” he said.

Chumo, however, cautioned the developers against doing sub-standard work, which has been a concern and an argument made against giving local contractors big projects.

“I would like to tell our developers to do a good job and prove themselves so that we do not go back to where we have come from,” he said advised those who do not have the capacity to execute a projects won in consortia. “But do not compromise on quality,” he cautioned.