AfrElec: Kenya, Ethiopia agree to discuss new power purchase deal

Kenya and Ethiopia have agreed to fast-track a delayed power purchase agreement (PPA) worth $1.3bn that will see Nairobi import some 400 MW per year, The Star reports.

The respective governments are discussing an interconnection project enabling Ethiopia, which is ramping up hydropower generation, to supply power not only to Kenya but throughout East Africa.

The aim is to take advantage of excess capacity within the network and facilitate the trade of electricity between member countries by integrating the power systems of Ethiopia and Kenya, along with Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, under the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) Master Plan.

The Ethiopia-Kenya 500-kV transmission line will stretch some 1,200 kilometres, from the Wolayta-Sodo substation in Ethiopia to Kenya’s Moyale County, to deliver power to the Suswa substation.

The $1.3bn Wolayta-Sodo to Suswa line, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank, among others, will transfer 2,000 MW from Ethiopia, which has the potential to generate over 11,000 MW of hydropower, The East African reports.

Work is already ongoing to build the 2,000-km Kenya-Tanzania-Zambia interconnector to link to the South Africa Power Pool (SAPP) to provide opportunities for trade between the eastern and southern part of the continent.