By Sumaya Hussein
Kenyans may face another series of national power outages or rationing soon as the Ministry
of Energy struggles to repair five main power towers that collapsed in December 2021.
The Ministry of Energy disclosed that it has no funds to procure a tender to fix the
Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line that has been operating on a temporary solution since
January this year.
The collapse cut off power from Lake Turkana Wind Power )LTWP) plant in marsabit, which
supplies almost 17% of Kenya’s electricity.
Energy Principal Secretary,Gordon Kihalangwa told Parliament that the ministry had
requested the treasury to make the funds needed available in the second supplementary
budget.
“The five towers collapsed in Longonot and we restored supply within two weeks. We are in
the process of procurement to have the towers restored. We have requested the Treasury for funding under the Supplementary II, ” he said.
The transmission lines and Suswa substation are owned and operated by Ketraco.
He added that once the ministry receives funding, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company
(Ketraco) would issue tenders for the restoration of the main five towers.
Ketraco acting managing director Antony Omukota confirmed that the firm was using
temporary solutions to evacuate power.
“We have not commenced procurement for a permanent solution because we have no funds.
We are looking forward to getting the funds allocated in the supplementary budget, he said.
The ministry however, has not disclosed the amount of money needed in the repair.
In late December, the Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line collapsed after damage the five
towers knocking out power supply and leading to rationing in parts of the country while it
was being repaired.
The use of temporary solutions raises the risk of nationwide power outage should a temporary
tower collapse.