A Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Suswa Substation in Narok County.
The recruitment of a consultant to oversee the selection of investors to build four high-voltage electricity lines under a Sh31.7 billion Public Private Partnership (PPP) deal has flopped, signalling a potential delay of the project that targets to revamp part of the country’s ageing power transmission network.
The PPP Directorate disclosed that the cost quoted by the lowest bidder for the consultancy works was higher than the budget allocated, rendering the bids unresponsive. The Unit will now have to float a fresh tender, a process that could take months.
“Evaluation of the bids was completed. The tender was unresponsive. It shall be re-advertised,” the PPP Directorate of the National Treasury said in an update.
“The tender was cancelled since the lowest quoted bidder was higher than what was in the budget,” it added without detailing the bid amounts.
The lines marked for construction under the PPP arrangement are the Kwale-Shimoni 220 kilovolt (kV) line, the 132kV Kipevu-Mbaraki line, the 220kV Kiambere-Maua-Isiolo line, and the 132kV Meru-Maua line and are key to bolstering power supply in Kwale, Mombasa, Meru, and Isiolo.
An overloaded and ageing transmission network in many parts of the country has hampered Kenya Power’s efforts to ensure a steady supply of electricity, putting pressure on Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco)–the State firm tasked with building power transmission lines.
The investors will build the lines, own and operate them for a given period to recoup their investment via a tariff on consumer bills, before relinquishing them to Ketraco.
The fast-growing consumption of power has exerted pressure on the existing power transmission network, turning the spotlight on Ketraco to expedite a revamp of the lines.
Power consumption jumped 10 percent last year to 10,820.53 Gigawatt-hours (GWh), with the country recording six peak demands in that period, highlighting the heavy usage straining the transmission network.
The four lines could become the second PPP-funded power transmission project in Kenya after two lines, that will be built by the African Development Bank-owned Africa50 and PowerGrid Corporation of India.
Africa50 and PowerGrid will build the 400kV Lessos-Lossuk line and the 220kV Kisumu-Kibos-Kakamega-Musaga line. The total cost of the project, which was closed last month, is $311 million (Sh40.1 billion).
Ketraco has set target to deliver the PPP-funded transmission lines by 2030, which will provide alternative power evacuation routes and increase the capacity of the network to transmit power from local sources and across the region.
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