New line to boost electricity supply in Western

Perennial electricity outages in Western Kenya could soon end once the Sh8 billion Olkaria-Lessos-Kisumu power line is completed. 

Work on the 400kV line is at an advanced stage. The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) expects the project to be done by end of this month, and power transmission to start by mid this year.

The line is expected to evacuate electricity from geothermal-rich Olkaria in Naivasha to the Western and Nyanza regions, which for years have relied on hydropower.

Ketraco engineer Brian Simiyu said the line would provide stable electricity for the region.

He admitted that due to unreliable weather, it was a challenge to supply Western Kenya with stable power.

“The Olkaria-Lessos-Kisumu power line is at an advanced stage and it will offer security in terms of electricity provision to the Western part of the country,” he said.

Simiyu spoke during a tour of the High Voltage Direct Current power station in Suswa, which he said is the largest in the country and would handle the 2,000mw electricity from Ethiopia.

“The biggest challenge facing electricity transmission has been losses and fluctuation, but the High Voltage Direct Current will change this,” he said.

Simiyu said the station would be ready by end of the year, adding that the technology would save the government millions of shillings.