KEY POINTS
- Adani Energy and Ketraco partner to boost Kenya’s power infrastructure.
- $736 million investment aims to reduce outages and improve grid efficiency.
- Kenya’s power grid set for major expansion with 90 new infrastructure projects.
Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) of India and the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Ketraco) have signed an agreement to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain electricity infrastructure projects in Kenya.
Ketraco and Adani Energy to enhance Kenya’s power grid
These initiatives aim to connect new and existing load centers, offer alternative supply routes, reduce power outages, and add power to the grid.
“These benefits will lead to increased power consumption, higher demand, reduced technical losses, and improved grid resilience,” Ketraco said. These improvements are expected to lower tariffs and enhance supply quality.
Kenya’s power transmission network operates at 132 kV, 220 kV, 400 kV, and 500 kV, with Ketraco owning 5,638 km (61.92%) of the 9,105 km total. Ketraco has also completed 42 substations with 6,396 MVA capacity and 31 bay extensions. However, the current transmission infrastructure struggles to meet rising demand, particularly in industrial and rural areas, causing inefficiencies and blackouts.
To address this, Ketraco’s Transmission Master Plan (TMP) and Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP) call for an additional 9,600 circuit kilometers of transmission lines and 15,891 MVA of substation capacity by 2042. The expansion, involving 90 infrastructure projects, is expected to cost $5.2 billion.
Private partnership aims to meet Kenya’s rising power demand
According to a report by ESI Africa, since 2008, Ketraco has relied on loans from development partners to fund projects, with typical turnaround times of five to eight years. With the next funding cycle expected after FY 2028/2029, Ketraco is now exploring private financing options.
The deal with AESL, part of India’s Adani Group, marks a public-private partnership (PPP). Under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) arrangement, AESL will raise $736 million through debt and equity to finance projects, including several transmission lines and substations, to be repaid over 30 years.
