KETRACO was incorporated on 2nd December 2008 and registered under the Companies Act, Cap 486 pursuant to Sessional Paper No. 4 of 2004 on Energy. We are a 100% Government owned state corporation, regulated under the State Corporations Act, Cap 446.
Our mandate is to to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain high voltage electricity transmission grid and regional power interconnectors that form the backbone of the National Transmission Grid.
Since inception, we have made concerted efforts at strengthening and extending the national power transmission grid to enhance the quality, reliability and security of electricity supply in Kenya.
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Vision
Stable Power Grid that will Transform Lives in the Region and Beyond
Mission
To provide a stable electricity grid and facilitate power trade for sustainable socio-economic
development
Mandate
To plan, design, construct, own, operate and maintain high voltage electricity transmission grid and regional power interconnectors.
As a public sector institution, we are dedicated to utilizing the best practice and provision of high quality professional services to our customers. The guiding principles in the operations of the company are
Our History
Creation of the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited was necessitated by the desire of the Government to transform power transmission into open access system to allow large electricity customers to purchase power from generators.
With future interconnections of Kenya’s electricity grid with Ethiopia, Tanzania and other Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) countries, and strengthening of the interconnection with Uganda through the Nile Equatorial Lakes Countries Electric Grids Interconnection Project (NELSAP), the Government views open access as having potential to enhance market and supply options for both power generation and large consumers.
Creation of the company also aimed to shield electricity consumers from higher tariffs in future arising from construction of this expensive power transmission infrastructure. Projects undertaken are fully funded by the Government and concessional loans with no capital related expenses being passed on to the consumer, thus improving power quality, supply and affordability.
When KETRACO was established, the existing transmission network comprised of 1,331km of 220kV, 2,211km of 132kV lines and was interconnected with Uganda through a 132kV double circuit line.
The then transmission system capacity was severely constrained particularly during peak hours when system voltages in parts of Nairobi, Western and Mount Kenya regions drop below acceptable levels, occasioning load shedding despite availability of generation capacity in other parts of the country, particularly in the Coast and Seven Forks. The problem was partly due to inadequate power in major load centers and transmission constraints particularly in the Western and Nairobi regions. Many parts of the network were not designed to the level of redundancy required to comply with the desired N-1 criteria for adequate reliability.
In carrying out our mandate, we are developing a robust grid system in order to:
- Improve quality and reliability of electricity supply throughout the country
- Transmit electricity to areas that are currently not supplied from the national grid
- Evacuate power from planned generation plants
- Provide a link with the neighboring countries in order to facilitate power exchange and develop electricity trade in the region
- Reduce transmission losses that cost the country heavily every year
- Reduce the cost of electricity to the consumer by absorbing the capital cost of transmission infrastructure
The size of transmission network (400kV, 220kV and 132kV) is currently approximately 6,294KM of which 2,364 km (37.5%) is owned by KETRACO. This includes 963kms of 132kV lines, 381km of 220kV lines and 1,020km of 400kV.