Africa | October 13, 2016

Kenya Power in need of locally made transformers for $280M projects

Kenya, Nairobi: According to the statement by Kenya Power’s CEO, the national utility is currently running power projects valued at around $280 million, which will promote local transformer and electrical equipment manufacturers.

 

Kenya, Nairobi: According to the statement by Kenya Power’s CEO, the national utility is currently running power projects valued at around $280 million, which will promote local transformer and electrical equipment manufacturers.

In the statement published by The Star, the company CEO, Ben Chumo, said the Last Mile Connectivity Project only in its first phase aims to connect 314,000 households, which will increase the demand for locally manufactured equipment. The World Bank has injected $150 million in this phase, during which 1,000 transformers will be installed.  

Kenya Power is also undertaking a countrywide upgrade of its existing network to improve electricity supply. This project, valued at $130 million, involves building of additional substations, and installation of transformers to make power more reliable, Ben Chumo added.

As Transformers Magazine has recently reported, Kenyan national utility set new guidelines for the procurement of transformers and other critical equipment in order to fight vandalism, and issued a call for domestic suppliers to team up with foreign companies with the requisite know-how in the manufacture of electrical equipment, in order to promote local manufacturers.

According to Ben Chumo, these steps are proving to be fruitful as a number of international companies have expressed interest in setting up local factories. “This is a clear indication that our policy of Buy-Kenya-Build-Kenya is working. Three transformer manufacturers have put in place facilities, acquired or installed some equipment, hired workforce and rented space in readiness to assemble the devices.”

As Transformers Magazine has also reported, the Kenyan subsidiary of the Chinese company Yocean Group has set up Kenya’s first transformer manufacturing plant.

Source: The Star