Nairobi's Industrial Area power supply gets boost

11.05. 2014

 

Kenya Power today carried out a major operation within Industrial Area in Nairobi to improve the quality and reliability of power supply to customers in the area.

The day-long operation involved refurbishment of power distribution lines and facilities supplying the industrial customers in the area from the new Industrial Area Substation. 480 Company employees and contractors, who were organised in 74 teams, replaced rotten poles, installed new conductors and reworked transformer structures in the system. The operation concentrated on the lower end of Enterprise road that is served by numerous high and low voltage lines and more than 70 transformers.

Speaking during the drive, the Company Managing Director and CEO Dr. Ben Chumo stated that that the project was part of a larger programme where more than Shs.1 billion will be invested in the upgrade of power substations, establishment of new power lines, creation of additional transformation and distribution capacity as well as dedicated lines to industrial customers. The programme is aimed at making the power supply system robust to drastically reduce in industrial downtime occasioned by both planned and unplanned outages.

Eng. Joshua Mwangi, Kenya Power’s Regional Manager, Nairobi South, said that the day’s exercise would cost approximately Shs.35 million. He added that the activity was part of a programme dubbed “Operation Boresha Stima Viwandani’’ which the company has initiated to upgrade facilities for service improvement.

Besides issues of quality and reliability, this exercise is part of the undertaking that Kenya Power is implementing throughout the country as it expands and upgrades its electricity distribution infrastructure ahead of the expected additional generation capacity of 5,000 MW by 2017. This will increase the country’s effective generation capacity by about 300% from the current 1,652 MW to 6,652 MW.

ENDS............................................

For more information, contact:
Kenya Power Corporate Communications Dept.
Tel. 3201622/30 or/47
E-mail communications@kenyapower.co.ke