BrazilKETRACO seeks consulting support for two transmission lines
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has called for consulting support with two separate power transmission lines stretching across 110 kilometres and 70 kilometres respectively. The assignment involves the preparation of evaluation and assessment studies.
Infrastructure development has emerged as the new battle cry across Africa’s blooming economies, particularly in the power & utilities segment, wherein stability is an absolute necessity for any progressive economic activity. The surge in investment is an attempt to cover the substantial gap in infrastructure funding that the continent has been struggling with thus far.
Kenya has been among those at the forefront of infrastructure investment since the start of this year, and the latest manifestation of this is the plan to construct two transmission lines in the country, one between Kabarnet and Rumuruti (111km) and the other connecting Menengai, Olkalu, and Rumuruti stretching over 70km.
Both lines will have a transmission capacity of 132 kilovolts, and the administrative body for the project – KETRACO – has called for consulting firms to express interest in supporting the projects, particularly those with prior experience in the construction of high voltage transmission lines.
The assignment essentially involves evaluations of the project’s feasibility and impact in a number of domains. Consultants will have to conduct Social Impact Studies on the projects – the expected number of displaced communities – and subsequently prepare what KETRACO terms as a Resettlement Action Plan alongside a Vulnerable and Marginalised Groups Plan.
In addition, the firm will be expected to prepare a comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the entire construction process, for which it may collaborate with other consulting firms, provided that their operations are relevant to the project.
In April this year, the Geothermal Development Company in Kenya also turned to the consulting industry to prepare an ESIA for the Menengai West Geothermal Drilling Project, which has a power generation capacity of 35 megawatts.
In May, consultants were called upon again by the United States Energy Association to identify areas for expansion and improvement in its major development project in Kenya – the Olkaria Geothermal Field. Expansion plans, when executed, are expected to add up to 500 megawatts of capacity to the plant.
Finally, just last month the Kenya Power and Lighting Company selected Spanish technology consultancy Indra to support with the optimisation of its grid management processes, leveraging the firm’s comprehensive InGRID solution, designed specifically to improve grid processes.
