Kenya Strikes Deal to Import Ethiopian Power Through 1,055-Kilometer Interconnector

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Work on the power transmission interconnector between Ethiopia and Kenya is scheduled to begin in 2013 for completion by the end of 2016, although reports say that it could be finished well before the scheduled date. Total investment in the project will be $1.2 billion, and funding will come from the World Bank, the French Development Agency and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The project will enable Kenya to import 400 megawatts (MW) of Ethiopian power. This follows a feasibility study conducted jointly by the two countries. The interconnector will be able to transport up to 2,000 MW.

Kenya will construct 612 kilometers of the high-voltage line on its territory, and Ethiopia will have 443 kilometers of line on its side of the border.

The Kenyan energy ministry says the electricity will be imported at what it believes is a competitive rate of $0.07 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Kenya is targeting a power capacity of 3,868 MW by 2016, more than doubling the current installed capacity of 1,394 MW.

The Ethiopian power will be fed into Kenya's national grid, making it accessible to the whole country. In a power import deal with Uganda in the 1990s, 30 MW comes into the country from Uganda, but this is only accessible to western Kenya.

Ethiopia is developing an 8,000-MW power capacity, and currently has 2,000 MW available for export. Power exports are being made to Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, and discussions are under way with South Sudan for that country to import Ethiopian power.

For related information see July 12, 2011, article - Ethiopia to Export Power from Nile Hydropower Project and January 4, 2012, article - Nile Basin Initiative to Bring Interconnected power to the People.

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