mwathadan
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 1, 2016
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- #41
Kenya has embarked on the task of upgrading its newly-built standard gauge railway (SGR) line to electric status following the signing of a financing deal with a Chinese company.
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) signed the $240 million with China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company on January 25, paving the way for work to begin.
The task is to convert the line from its current diesel-driven status to an electricity-driven line — enabling it to make a switch to use of clean energy.
About 14 power substations will be constructed to serve the Mombasa and Nairobi segment of the line which is expected to run through Uganda into Rwanda.
Ketraco’s task is to ensure reliable and sufficient supply of electricity not only for the train but also other facilities along the Mombasa-Nairobi economic belt such as train stations, factories and businesses near the railway. It is expected to create a market for major power consumers along the railway line and open other opportunities for the locals.
Technically, SGR is ready for the upgrade because though initially designed to run on diesel-powered locomotives, it allows addition of a single electric line that will be connected to Ketraco’s 482-km 400kV Mombasa-Nairobi transmission line.
The line, which is the longest and highest voltage transmission infrastructure in East Africa, has a transfer capacity of 1,500 megawatts, which is only 200 megawatts shy of the current national demand of 1,700 megawatts.
The line was constructed to address the challenges of low voltage, high transmission losses, unreliable supply, including strengthening of network security and the national grid system.
Its energisation, which President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned last year, therefore debunks the myth that Kenya does not have a dependable source of electricity to power an electric train network.
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) signed the $240 million with China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company on January 25, paving the way for work to begin.
The task is to convert the line from its current diesel-driven status to an electricity-driven line — enabling it to make a switch to use of clean energy.
About 14 power substations will be constructed to serve the Mombasa and Nairobi segment of the line which is expected to run through Uganda into Rwanda.
Ketraco’s task is to ensure reliable and sufficient supply of electricity not only for the train but also other facilities along the Mombasa-Nairobi economic belt such as train stations, factories and businesses near the railway. It is expected to create a market for major power consumers along the railway line and open other opportunities for the locals.
Technically, SGR is ready for the upgrade because though initially designed to run on diesel-powered locomotives, it allows addition of a single electric line that will be connected to Ketraco’s 482-km 400kV Mombasa-Nairobi transmission line.
The line, which is the longest and highest voltage transmission infrastructure in East Africa, has a transfer capacity of 1,500 megawatts, which is only 200 megawatts shy of the current national demand of 1,700 megawatts.
The line was constructed to address the challenges of low voltage, high transmission losses, unreliable supply, including strengthening of network security and the national grid system.
Its energisation, which President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned last year, therefore debunks the myth that Kenya does not have a dependable source of electricity to power an electric train network.
