Turkwel–Ortum–Kitale High Voltage Power Line

Turkwel–Ortum–Kitale High Voltage Power Line is a high voltage electricity power line, under construction, connecting the high voltage substation at Turkwel, to another high voltage substation at Kitale, both in Kenya.

Location
The power line starts at the 106 MW Turkwel Hydroelectric Power Station, in West Pokot County, as a 220kV single circuit high voltage power line. From there, the line travels in a general southerly direction through the town of Ortum also in West Pokot County, to end at Kitale in Trans-Nzoia County. The road distance between Turkwel and Kitale is approximately 139 mi.

Overview
This power transmission line connects the Turkwel HPP directly to Ortum and Kitale. Before this line was established the electricity generated at Turkwel was evacuated through the Turkwell–Eldoret–Lessos High Voltage Transmission Line. However, the solar power stations (i) Alten, (ii) Eldsol and (iii) Radiant, owned by independent power producers are given priority, often crowding out Turkwel HPP. The new line will exclusively serve Turkwel HPP, which produces inexpensive hydropower.

Construction and funding
The construction has been ongoing since the early 2010s. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to KEC International Limited of India. The contract price was US$11,861,976 (KSh1,552,080,250 in May 2024 money). Funding was provided by the government of Kenya with loan support from the Exim Bank of India. Commercial commissioning is now expected in June 2024.

The project involves the building of two new substations, one at Kitale and another at Ortum and the expansion of the substation at Turkwel to allow an "alternative evacuation path for power generated at Turkwel HPP".


 * Note:US$1.00=KSh130.845 on 30 May 2024.

Other considerations
As of November 2020, Kenya had a national generation capacity of 2,766 MW, with maximum demand of 1,900 MW. So, on paper, the country had excess electricity, but in reality, due to insufficient transmission network, significant wattage was generated but not evacuated and therefore unused (not utilized). This transmission line is intended to evacuate 106 MW of clean, renewable and inexpensive electricity for domestic supply to spur economic development.