Page 9 - Downstream Monitor - MEA Week 37
P. 9
DMEA enerGy transition DMEA
Eastern and southern African grids to be connected by 2022
afriCa
THE two separate regional cross-border power grids in eastern and southern Africa are set to be joined by 2022, after years of delays, when a number of interconnectors between Kenya, Ethi- opia, Tanzania and uganda are completed.
Joining the separate grids of the two regions has long been held to be one solution to pro- viding reliable power supplies to industrial and domestic customers in the region.
The new lines aim to connect the two systems and to cut tariffs, reduce emissions and boost economic growth.
They are being supported by western-leaning MDMs such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as the Japan international Co-operation Agency (JiCA).
The Kenya-Ethiopia link is budgeted to cost $1.26bn, most of which is coming from the AfDB. A mixture of Chinese and indian con- tractors is building the line.
“in the next two to three years, we will have interconnections with several neighbouring countries in the region,” Joseph Njoroge, the principal secretary at the Kenyan Energy Minis- try, said on September 17, Reuters reported.
“Thereafter, we will be able to come up with a configuration that enhances demand in terms of the region.”
Current plans call for a 500-kV line from Kenya to Ethiopia, while 400-kV lines will run
from Kenya to uganda (and on to Rwanda and Burundi) and Kenya to Tanzania.
Crucially, the Kenya-Tanzania line will extend to Zambia, Njoroge said, linking East African networks up with South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
This will allow cross-border trading in elec- tricity to take place, enabling countries to tap in to supplies from their neighbours in times of drought or fuel problems, while also introducing more grid resilience into power systems.
Yet despite Njoroge’s positive news, he admit- ted that the current target of 2022 was the result of difficulties in land acquisitions in some areas. The original target dates had been 2017 for Ethi- opia-Kenya, 2016 for Kenya-uganda and 2018 for the Kenya-Tanzania line.
The new links come at a time when power demand is growing in East Africa as the econ- omy expands. on the other hand, there is some theoretical excess capacity in the system, which is often underused because of fuel supply problems and poor maintenance.
East Africa boasts new utility-scale renew- ables projects such as Kenya’s 310-MW Lake Turkana wind farm and the 600-MW Karuma hydro project in uganda. Tanzania is building new gas-fired capacity, while Ethiopia is looking to export power from its 6,450-MW Grand Ethi- opian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project.
Week 37 19•September•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9
