KETRACO completes, powers-up Ksh.2.8B Sultan Hamud-Loitoktok transmission line

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO), has completed and powered up the Sultan Hamud to Loitoktok transmission line.

The high-voltage power line, which was built at a cost of Ksh.2.8 billion, is set to improve electricity supply in Kajiado and Makueni counties, allowing residents and businesses in the area access to stable and reliable electricity supply.

For years, residents and businesses in and around Loitoktok in Kajiado County have not known a reliable supply of power as frequent power interruptions lasting up to six hours every day have held the region back.

The growth of Loitoktok town and the rise of large corporate clients, including major hotels, only worsened the strain on the outdated, low-capacity power line that stretched more than 100 kilometres.

For the past three years, Ketraco has been constructing the 132kV Sultan Hamud-Loitoktok transmission line.

"The line starts at Sultan Hamud, which is in Makueni County, and it’s 107 kilometres long, that is in Kajiado County. So it’s a line that traverses two very large counties, evacuates power from Makueni, and delivers it to Kajiado County," said KETRACO senior resident engineer Dennis Busolo.

The transmission line and the Loitoktok substation have since been completed, and on October 19, Ketraco energized the line. Kenya Power has already started distributing power from this substation to the local area.

Citizen TV went to the area to investigate the impact the line has had on the residents. The line, local bazaar is the busiest it has been in a long while.

"Kitambo ilikuwa, kila baada ya nusu saa, stima imepotea, saa ingine imepotea siku mbili, saa ingine siku tatu, saa ingine, nakuja tu mbaka nachoma vitu za watu engine," Loitoktok resident Julius Ole Laun said, adding that much has since changed.

"Hapa mahali tuko tunasaidia community kucharge masimu yao na hii stima iko, lakini sahii tumeona iko mabadiliko."

At the nearby Amboseli Comprehensive S chool, where 645 learners study, the management said that it was not just about light, it was also about the security of the students.

"We have a boarding facility for both boys and girls, and sometimes maybe two months ago or three months ago, when the power goes off at around 7 p.m., our learners would not go back to classrooms. You find that the teacher will have to stop teaching, so they will have to go back and sleep. And passing through maybe one class to the boarding facility. It is a harsh area where we have elephants, so sometimes there is no light," said the headteacher Josephat Nina.

The greatest relief, however, has been felt at Amboseli National Park, one of Kenya’s key tourism spots. Frequent blackouts previously disrupted essential operations, including lighting, refrigeration, and guest services at lodges and camps.

"There were many blackouts. In fact, in a day, more than 20 blackouts. Every time, every night it was predictable that there would be a problem. So you cannot properly plan your activities," Amboseli Ecosystem assistant director Paul Wambi noted.

The completion and energization of the Sultan Hamud line has brought with it a new dawn for residents and the business community around the area.

Residents say that this is among the first bulletins that they will be watching from start to finish without interruption from a blackout.

This project is one of three under the Kenya Power Transmission Expansion Project and was funded by the Government of Kenya and the EXIM Bank of China.