KETRACO extends high voltage power to Kajiado and Makueni

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has energized the 132kV Sultan Hamud – Loitoktok high voltage transmission line.

The State-owned power transmission company has also energized the substations at Sultan Hamud and Loitoktok.

The two locations are situated in Makueni and Kajiado counties respectively.

KETRACO Managing Director Dr John Mativo said the energization of the substations and transmission line will extend stable and reliable power supply at high voltage to the two counties.

According to the KETRACO boss, the regions have been getting served using a long medium voltage line, which increased power losses and also made supply unreliable.

“Tomorrow evening (Sunday) customers (in Merueshi, Amboseli and eastern parts of Kajiado County) will start enjoying the benefits of being moved from being served using a long 120km medium voltage line to being served using a high voltage line and shorter medium voltage lines,” said Dr Mativo.

KETRACO was established in 2008 to exclusively build power transmission lines across the country, a role that had until then been done by Kenya Power.

At the time, Kenya had only 3,400km if transmission lines, mainly the line running from Mombasa to Malaba.

The company has been racing to undertake new projects mainly funded by the government and development partners.

KETRACO has however turned to Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to do new projects, mainly as a result of an increasingly constrained public fiscal space.

The company aims to complete 15 power projects in 2024, including the Isinya-Konza line which will connect Konza to the grid.

A number of other projects have been lined up for construction in 2025.

“This will increase the electricity available, reduce technical losses and improve the quality of power,” said Dr Mativo.

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