Kenya Power is set to acquire 3,319 distribution transformers in a record two weeks as it races to connect customers who have already paid and also replace faulty ones.
The State-owned power distributor floated the tender where it targets to acquire the kits from local manufacturers within 14 days upon awarding of the contract. The value of the deal remains undisclosed.
Kenya Power says that the targeted transformers should have capacities of between 25 kilovolts ampere (KVA) to 100 KVA.
Those with a capacity of 50 KVA 11/0.42KV make the biggest chunk at 1,079 pieces followed by 840 pieces for 50 KVA 33/0.42KV.
The firm says that over 85 percent of these transformers are meant to connect customers who have already paid up. The remainder is for replacing transformers that have been vandalised, plunging customers into darkness.
Budget cuts
The latest order is meant to plug a shortage that was occasioned by budgetary cuts enforced by the Treasury last year.
The budget cuts led to further delays in sourcing the critical kits, leaving scores of paid-up customers disgruntled and staring at losses, especially those in business.
“Kenya Power had budget challenges when the National Treasury slashed budgets for ministries and parastatals. As a result, Kenya Power did an initial tender in October 2024 for transformers that were out of stock and could be accommodated in the reduced budget,” John Ngeno, the general manager for supply chain and logistics at Kenya Power, said.
“Kenya Power intends to procure any ready stocks from local manufacturers, whose supply is not limited to KPC, but also Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation and other private firms.”
Kenya Power is enjoying a steady rise in new customers, underscoring the need to shore up the supply of critical kits like transformers in a bid to ease delays in lighting up homes and businesses seeking to be supplied by the national grid.
Official data shows that Kenya Power connected 194,654 new customers in the six months to December last year, bringing the total customer base to 9.85 million.
Kenya Power’s net profit for the six months ended December 2024 jumped 30 times to Sh9.97 billion from Sh319 million made in the same period of 2023.
Connecting all paid-up customers is key to boosting Kenya Power’s electricity sales and ultimately driving profits.
Mr Ngeno reckons that the new connections would have been higher had the utility not faced the biting shortage of transformers.
Kenya Power has in the past few years been plagued by a shortage of critical kits like transformers and meters, hitches that have led to outcry from customers who have already paid for connection or those plunged into prolonged blackouts following the vandalism of transformers.
Rogue firms
The power distributor has blamed rogue firms for court cases that have in the past delayed the procurement. The delays prompted Kenya Power to mull exceptions in the procurement of special kits like transformers in order to avoid the delays.
In some instances, customers have been forced to wait for over two years to be connected due to a shortage of kits, underscoring the adverse impact of the court cases.
