Kenya Power on Monday flagged off 32 live line maintenance trucks to their operational regions across the country.
This will see them reduce planned electricity shutdowns, enhance stability of power supply and improve revenue generation.
This follows the completion of the pilot phase under the live maintenance programme where more than 70 employees were trained to carry out maintenance of live power lines where eight insulated trucks and three digger derricks were also acquired.
Under the second pilot phase, the World Bank has funded the programme to a tune of Sh. 2 billion to procure the additional insulated trucks, tools and training of staff in live maintenance techniques and establishment of a laboratory for testing live line equipment.
Speaking during the launch of the programme at Stima Club in Ruaraka, Kenya Power Ag. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eng. Jared Othieno said since the introduction of live line programme the number of planned shutdowns has reduced by approximately 40 percent.
“We believe that improving the reliability of power supply to our customers is crucial in accelerating the development and growth of our country,” he added.
Othieno said the company is focused on the provision of quality power supply by strengthening electricity network and streamlining internal processes to improve customer experience and stakeholder confidence.
The CEO noted that the live line programme is a major milestone given that it will enable staff to carry out the network maintenance on High Voltage Lines without completely switching off the supply.
The World Bank’s Senior Energy Specialist, Ms. Laurencia Njagi said, “with our development journey, we have supported Kenya in the development of power generation since 1970 where we have financed geothermal projects.”
In 2015, the World Bank approved Sh. 130 billion (USD 1.3 billion) to support KP to extend and cover 69 additional major distribution networks and enable operations monitoring of the distribution operate and do repairs while it is live.
By David Musungu/Collins Juma
