POWERGRID and Africa50, in a joint development agreement, set to pioneer the continent’s first transmission PPP project in Kenya
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) a Maharatna CPSU under Ministry of Power, Government of India has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform to continue to develop the Kenya Transmission Project on a public-private partnership basis.
The project entails the development, financing, construction, and operation of the 400kV Lessos – Loosuk and 220kV Kisumu – Musaga transmission lines under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework. Once completed, the project will be the first Independent Power Transmission (IPT) in Kenya and will set a reference point in Africa as the first financing of transmission lines on a PPP basis. This project will also improve both the supply and reliability of power transmission in Western Kenya and further create a demonstration effect to help increase private sector investments into the expansion of Africa’s power transmission networks, which is critical to bridging the continent’s electricity access gap.
The signing of this agreement underscores POWERGRID and Africa50’s commitment to continue to dedicate resources to accelerate development activities on the project until financial close.
Signing on behalf of POWERGRID, the chairman and MD K Sreekant, said, “POWERGRID is pleased to partner with Africa50 in undertaking development of first PPP mode transmission project in Kenya. Transmission plays an important role in bringing efficiency in the entire electricity supply chain. POWERGRID hopes that the present transmission project in Kenya shall serve as a model for undertaking more such projects in future.”
Commenting on the signing, the CEO of Africa50, Alain Ebobissé shared, “We are very pleased to partner with the Government of Kenya and POWERGRID to implement this important and pioneering project in one of our shareholder countries. In the past few years, a lot of emphasis has been placed on attracting private investments in energy production infrastructure in Africa. It is time to also focus on catalysing private investment into the development of power transmission networks across Africa as these are a critical link to improving electricity access, especially in underserved communities”.