The Kenya Power has partnered with the National Youth Service (NYS) to facilitate the digitization of the network, and provide the framework for the grid automation project.
The Facilities Data Base digital platform, is a Geographical Information System (GIS) application, through which the Company captures analyses, manages and stores its transmission and distribution facilities data. The countrywide exercise, will be covered by 770 NYS officers, 700 servicemen and women, and 70 supervisors. It kicks off on the 19th of July. World Bank under the Kenya Electricity Management Programme (KEMP) is funding the process at a cost of Sh 225million.
“With a 99-year history, Kenya Power is a long standing business with assets covering the length and breadth of this country. The objective of this exercise is to create visibility of the network on the FDB digital platform for efficient and effective service delivery,” said Bernard Ngugi, Kenya Power’s Managing Director and CEO.
Data clean-up project
The Company has so far digitized 70% of its network comprising 83 transmission substations, 295 primary substations, 73,486 secondary substations (transformers)and 77,990.69Kms of high and medium voltage lines. The NYS partnership will cover the remaining 30% which will include the digitisation of 166,623.84Kms of low voltage lines, and over 8.2 million customer meters. Customer meters will also be linked to their respective transformers to reflect their current physical locations.
“Updating the Company’s data on the Facilities Database Digital platform will provide us with an accurate inventory of all our physical assets in order to enhance our technical and operational efficiency,” said Kenya Power Managing Director & CEO Mr. Bernard Ngugi.
The data clean-up project will enable the business to conduct precise energy measurement which will in turn aid the business in identifying losses’ hotspots to facilitate effective remedial action. The digitisation exercise will also assist the Company to identify overloaded, under-utilised, and imbalanced transformers to enable us take corrective action.
With the clear mapping of customer meters, the Company will also be able to improve on billing as well as revenue collection. Additionally, digitising the network will also have a positive impact on the design stage of the connectivity process, since designers will no longer have to make field visits, making the process faster and more efficient.
