The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) has awarded Spain-based international sustainable energy company Abengoa a contract for the construction of a 132 km electricity transmission line between Kenya and Uganda.

Ketraco is owned by the Kenyan Ministry of Energy and the €32-million project is an extension of existing substations in Lessos, Kenya, and in Tororo, Uganda. The African Development Bank is funding the entire project.

The project forms part of the Interconnection of Electric Grids of Nile Equatorial Lakes Countries project, which is being developed in Africa and involves the construction of about 769 km of transmission line in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Abengoa is responsible for the engineering, construction and commissioning of the transmission line and will extend the Lessos substation. It is also responsible for the design, construction and commissioning of the substation.

For the transmission line, a 400 kV double- circuit triplex line will be laid, which will run parallel to an existing 132 kV line at a height of 33 m.

The materials that will be used are 2 427 km of flint-type energy conductors, 13.8 km of optical ground-wire-type cable, 134.8 km of ground steel-wire-type cable, 3 624 composite insulators and 6 265 t of steel for 362 towers that will hold up the power lines.

The 769 km of transmission lines of Interconnection of Electric Grids of Nile Equatorial Lakes Countries project consists of 220 kV and 110 kV transmission lines and 17 transformer stations to interconnect the electric grids of the four Nile equatorial lakes countries – Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project aims to improve the living conditions of the people and the quality of the socioeconomic development environment of the regions, based on the availability of affordable electric energy and access for the communities to electricity through increased cross-border electric power trade.

Abengoa’s 132 km section of the larger project is scheduled to be completed within 18 months and should be handed over to Ketraco in November next year.