Epra weighs Tanzania’s import of Ethiopia electricity through Kenya
Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) Director General Daniel Kiptoo speaks during a media roundtable meeting held by the regulator at Sarova PanAfric Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on May 23, 2024. PHOTO | NMG
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) is concluding the review of a deal to transport 100MW of power from Ethiopia to Tanzania, which will see Kenya’s infrastructure used for the deal.
Epra’s Director-General Daniel Kiptoo said the authority has already gone through a preliminary analysis of the proposal, and hopes to conclude the approval process this month.
The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) entered into a deal with Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) to sell 100MW of power, which will see the two use Kenya Electricity Transmission Company’s (Ketraco) infrastructure for the transit.
“We received a request for moving of the power from Ethiopia between EEP, Ketraco which has the transmission line and Tanesco for the moving of 100MW of power from Ethiopia to Tanzania,” Mr Kiptoo said.
“We are processing the applicationit. We’ve done a preliminary analysis, we’ve taken it through the rigours of getting whole approval.” The parties sought Epra’s approval- the energy sector regulator, in accordance with the law.
Tanzania plans to import 100MW power from Ethiopia to boost electricity supply in northern parts, the country’s Energy Permanent Secretary Felchesmi Mramba said this week.
In the deal, Ethiopia and Tanzania will use Kenya as a transit route for the power, with Ketraco’s transmission lines used to move the power. Ketraco will charge the parties a wheeling fee for the use of its transmission lines.
“We are in the process of reviewing both technical and economic parameters,” Mr Kiptoo said.
Epra said it projects to have made a final decision on the approval of the deal by end of this month.
In 2024, Kenya and Tanzania commissioned a 510-kilometre electricity interconnector line running from Isinya through Namanga to Arusha.
The line is key for the operationalisation of the regional power pool, allowing power utilities in the region to buy and sell electricity from each other.
The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector, which is over 1,000 kilometres long and runs from Woloyta-Sodo in Ethiopia to Suswa Substation, is operational. The interconnector, commissioned in 2022, has enabled Kenya to import electricity from Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd).
