Times are changing. On this world stage, our grid needs to mature up and since we are playing catch-up, my fellow stakeholders, we must realign the gears in our minds and rethink our “wise saws and modern instances”.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a smart grid is an electricity network that uses digital and other advanced technologies to monitor and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the varying electricity demands of end users. Significant investments are being deployed towards the progression of the smart grid. To mention a few:
- European Commission – EU action plan “Digitalisation of the energy system”, EUR 584 billion (USD 633 billion) of investment in the European electricity grid by 2030.
- Japan’s funding programme of USD 155 billion to promote investment in smart power grids.
- Canada investing USD 100 million through its Smart Grid Program.
Kenya, through a draft plan report dated October 2023 entitled "Climate Investment Funds Renewable Energy Integration Program Investment” plan to facilitate grid flexibility, reliability, open access for renewables, technology & market innovation, projected an estimated cost of USD 306,567,832. Hold on to that thought.
Every journey begins with the first step, the steps began in December 2008 when Kenya Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd (KETRACO) owned 50km of transmission infrastructure to now with approx. 5,476km of circuit length and 39 High Voltage (HV) substations with 5,928 MVA capacity by June 2023. That’s not all, by the year 2042, there is a projection of route length of 6,510km, circuit length of 11,131km, and substation capacity of 18,866 MVA, a step with an estimated cost of USD 4,778 million according to KETRACO Transmission Master Plan 2023-2042 Report Volume 1 dated 31st May 2023.
This is supported by a five-year strategic plan launched on 21st December 2023 which targets to implementation of 4,600km HV transmission lines and 36 HV substations at an estimated cost of KES 350.78 billion.
With six years left, all Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) in the Ministry of Energy are turbocharged to “transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment” famously dubbed Kenya Vision 2030.
Why are those strategic plans important?
The strategic plans made, create an opportunity for Kenya to be a pacesetter for other African nations. Kenya has a leadership responsibility to step up and geothermal resources have created a chance for us to shape the continent’s energy trend.
In November 2021 at COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Former President Uhuru Kenyatta made a historical statement of Kenya’s ambition to achieve 100% use of clean energy by 2030. In September 2023 at the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya, President William Ruto reaffirmed the same sentiments.
As we move towards achieving that target, our grid should be smart enough to relay a lot of information like distinguishing the energy source as the energy is consumed by the end-user and charting out the current energy mix so it can illustrate the embedded greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions produced during power generation.
This could be a great measure that can be used to calculate carbon tariffs in the event we expand our scope of exports to international markets which in the future quite several countries would have Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in place.
If by now you still can’t shake the thought of how outrageous and expensive these strategic plans are, just imagine the cost we are and will be experiencing due to existing transmission network challenges that threaten the system's stability. Challenges such as overvoltage, under-voltage, over-frequency, under-frequency, and overloading of transmission lines and transformers. I need not to remind you of last month’s grid outage due to system overload.
Financing is key. Some of the Kenyan banks are adjusting to the changing environment, making strategic moves to expand their credit portfolio to incorporate green/climate funding. That is commendable. Hope more financial institutions will join the table to savor this risk appetite.
As Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are being identified around the country, their impact as electricity demand drivers is anticipated. There is a need for industries to set up shop here in Kenya. If lattice towers are made of steel, HV cables are made from either aluminum or copper, and transformers with a variety of metals then surely with strategic plans mentioned above to grow our transmission network, there is demand for their products. That is just Kenya, now expand the scope to Africa. According to Global Wind Report 2022, the amount of steel used in one onshore wind farm is in the range of 107 – 132 tonnes per MW, accounting for 24% of total material while concrete is in the range of 243 – 413 tonnes per MW roughly 72%. As plans are underway to grow wind installed capacity in Africa, setting up industries stands as an opportunity to serve this demand.
Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will eventually be installed in our grid, 100MW/1hr. What is also true, is the growing number of Electric Vehicles (EV) buses that have a battery capacity ranging from 210 to 384 KWh which will lead to an increase in charging stations. Vehicle-2-Grid (V2G) technology will be a great topic of discussion then. As there will be an increasing cost of lithium in the international markets due to high demand, the need for short-term stability to our grid will increase as well. EV bus fleet would have a significant amount of battery capacity combined. EV players will need a seat on the table to see through and contribute to the stability aspect of KETRACO’s vision via V2G technology.
Conclusion
A robust transmission network is the heart of the clean energy economy. Scalability, security, and sustainability are pillars we must get right, first at the transmission network level.