A police officer patrols substation of Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited in Suswa on August 4, 2017. Kenya says it has completed a 400Kv transmission line to Tanzania.
Some 13 members of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) say they will formally begin cross-border transmission of power early next year, attempting to fill supply and efficiency gaps in energy production.
The EAPP Council of Ministers chairman, Uganda’s Minister of Energy Okaasai Opolot, said the pool has set-up of all trading platforms, including tariffs and regulations, ahead of the Day-Ahead Market launch next March.
Mr Opolot spoke in Mombasa during the official opening of the three EAPP Regional Power Trade Conference, noting that, for an efficient cross-border power market to improve energy security, proper utilisation of generated power and the transition to sustainable energy systems would boost relations and save costs.
The conference, spearheaded by the EAPP in partnership with the World Bank and the Government of Kenya, will also see the launch of a centralised regional power market and brings together regulators, utilities, international experts and development partners.
"By providing access to a broader mix and more stable supply of renewable energy resources over a wider geographic area, it also enables regions to integrate their power demands in a way that helps meet some of the aforementioned challenges," Mr Opolot said.
Delegates from Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia are attending.
Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi said Nairobi supports the regional power trade, with emphasis on renewable energy.
Kenya was among the first seven countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, that agreed to establish EAPP by signing the InterGovernmental memorandum back in 2005.
Kenya says it has completed a 400Kv transmission line to Tanzania.
“This interconnection, once energised, will not only enable Tanzania to harness renewable energy capacity in Kenya, but also leverage Kenya’s transmission infrastructure to access renewable energy from Ethiopia. This will assure the realisation of our goal of a regional power market,” Mr Wandayi said.
“As policy makers, it is our duty to create an enabling environment for this market to thrive. This will among others, fostering a culture of cooperation, addressing any bottlenecks in the regulatory or technical frameworks, and ensuring that out national priorities align with regional goals.”
Kenya already runs an interconnection with Ethiopia through the 500 High Voltage Direct current transmission line.
The Egypt and Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda and Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan interconnections are scheduled to start next year.
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