The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) on Tuesday, October 1 signed a contract to construct a Ksh11.6 billion (Euros 80.7 million) national system control center (NSCC) in Embakasi East, Nairobi County which is expected to modernise Kenya’s electricity transmission infrastructure and build towards more efficient power supply.
In a statement to newsrooms on Tuesday, KETRACO revealed that the new power dispatch hub will replace the current national control centre based on Juja, on the outskirts of Nairobi. The new facility will serve as the central command center for managing the national grid and ease the burden on the existing NSCC.
Consortium of Grid Solution SAS had won the tender for the project funded by the French Development Agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
The agency projects that the construction of the new NSCC will take 36 months.
The system control center serves as the hub from where power from various generation sources is distributed to consumers across the country. The dispatch is guided by a merit order that considers various factors such as cost and demand to reliably distribute power to the national grid.
An engineer carries out maintenance on power lines.
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Power Source
The new facility will facilitate the integration of electricity from diverse generators into the grid, ensuring optimal stability and reliability.
The project will also involve the construction of a backup facility at KETRACO’s Suswa substation, which will be vital in managing asset performance and monitoring the grid. This facility will be the first of its kind in the region.
“We are building a state-of-the-art National System Control Centre in Embakasi that is essential for the efficient operation of the grid,” KETRACO’s Managing Director John Mativo said in a statement.
“The National Grid will continue to grow in size and capacity within Kenya, three regional high voltage interconnectors connected to neighboring countries, and more and more variable renewable energy added in the energy mix making it paramount for KETRACO construct a new facility.”
The NSCC will play a critical role in balancing electricity supply and demand, integrating various power sources, including variable renewable energy, and ensuring grid stability.
The new state-of-the-art, spacious and well-equipped national system control centre is expected to meet both the current and future power system and customer demands in line with the government and overall stakeholder expectations.
Kenya’s energy demand has grown from 550 Megawatts (MW) in the 1980’s to the current over 2,200MW owing to increased demand by retail consumers and industries.
The Suswa High Voltage Direct Current Converter Substation.
