Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Ketraco) this week evacuated 50 megawatts (MW) of power from Ethiopia to Tanzania in a race to kickstart a deal that will earn it an estimated Sh800 million a year.John Mativo, the Ketraco managing director said that the tests will continue for the next two weeks with the load set to be doubled to fully ascertain that the company's network can safely evacuate 100MW to Tanzania. Tanzania inked a deal with Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP) to import 100MW of hydro power from Ethiopia using Ketraco’s lines. Ketraco will in return get at least Sh800 million every year in wheeling charges for the interconnection transmission, significantly boosting its bottom line. The duration of the deal remains undisclosed but Ketraco could potentially earn upwards of Sh2.4 billion in the first three years that Tanzania will import electricity from Ethiopia.Tanzania is banking on electricity imports from Ethiopia to shore up power security and ease perennial shortages especially in its northern parts.“We are doing trial runs to confirm that we can safely and reliably carry 200MW to Kenya and a further 100MW to Tanzania,” Mr Mativo told this publication. “After the trial period, Tanesco (Tanzania Electric Supply Company) will start paying Ketraco a wheeling tariff for the interconnection transmission service of approximately Sh800 million per year. " Tanesco is the government-owned entity in Tanzania which is responsible for distributing electricity in the neighboring country. Mr Mativo said that completion of the pilot phase will then see Attorney Generals from the three nations sign the necessary legal instruments to officially kickstart the trade.The tests that Ketraco is undertaking are key given that this is the same transmission network currently evacuating up to 200MW of electricity from Ethiopia to Kenya. The entry of Tanzania will push the load up to 300MW.Tanzania is expected to increase the imports from Ethiopia to 200MW by 2027 when Kenya will review its deal with Ethiopia with an eye on increasing the amount of electricity imported from Ethiopia. Ketraco will rely on the 500 kilovolts (kV) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) line running from Woloyta/ Sodo in Ethiopia to Suswa Substation and the 400-kV line that stretches from Suswa-Isinya-Namanga-Arusha. The 1,045-kilometre line from Ethiopia to Kenya was commissioned in 2022, paving the way for Kenya Power to start importing electricity while the 510-km line between Kenya and Tanzania was commissioned in December last year.This will be the first time that Ketraco’s lines will be used by a neighboring country to evacuate power from another nation, underscoring the critical role of Kenya’s electricity transmission network in facilitating regional power trade. The connection between Ethiopia and Tanzania via Kenya is also key in the regional power trade where economies with surplus electricity will sell it to those facing deficit, helping ease outages besides ensuring cheap power. The Ethiopia-Kenya-Tanzania agreement will become the first wheeling transaction within the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and will be key in developing the EAPP power market transmission pricing methodology. (ICE NAIROBI)

Fonte notizia: Business Daily